Pedals is a

voluntary organisation A voluntary group or union (also sometimes called a voluntary organization, common-interest association, association, or society) is a group of individuals who enter into an agreement, usually as volunteers, to form a body (or organization) to ac ...

founded in 1979 to encourage more people to use

bicycles A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

and to campaign for safer and more attractive conditions for

cyclists Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of Bicycle, cycles for transport, recreation, Physical exercise, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", ...

in the

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

area. Pedals campaigned to get Nottingham one of the country's largest network of urban cycle routes in the 1980s. It continues to press for many more facilities, especially in and across the City Centre and the north side of Nottingham, as well as linking better to nearby countryside. Monthly meetings are held at 7.30pm on the third Monday of every month (except public holidays) at the Vat and Fiddle Public House near

Nottingham railway station Nottingham station, briefly known as Nottingham City and for rather longer as Nottingham Midland, is a railway station and tram stop in the city of Nottingham. It is the principal railway station of Nottingham. It is also a nodal point on the ...

Strategic Vision

The group describes its

strategy Strategy (from Greek στρατηγία ''stratēgia'', "art of troop leader; office of general, command, generalship") is a general plan to achieve one or more long-term or overall goals under conditions of uncertainty. In the sense of the "art ...

as follows: "''Pedals wishes to see support for cycling in 3 ways:
''- Promotion of cycling as a healthy and sustainable means of transport including:-
'' ''- Improvement of existing infrastructure to make cycling safer
'' ''- Expansion of specific facilities for cyclists''"
''

Campaigns

Pedals actively engaged with Nottingham Express Transit (NET) during the developments of phase one and two to push for better provision for cyclists, including cycle racks at tram stops, carriage of cycle on off-peak trams, tram groove inserts for on street sections to prevent cycle accidents and alternative cycle routes away from tram tracks. A publicity campaign highlighting the dangers of trams tracks to cyclists was launched by the contractor. Pedals has successfully campaigned to get hundreds of cycle stands installed locally and also cycle lockers at several locations.

Engagement with other organisations

Pedals represents cyclists as an informal stakeholder group at various committees, these include:

Broxtowe Borough Council Broxtowe refers to a number of geographic entities, current and historic, in Nottinghamshire, England: * Broxtowe, Nottingham, a housing estate in Apsley ward, within the City of Nottingham * Broxtowe (UK Parliament constituency), the constituency ...

Transport Sub Group

Nottingham City Council Nottingham City Council is the local authority for the unitary authority of Nottingham in Nottinghamshire, England. It consists of 55 councillors, representing a total of 20 wards, elected every four years. The council is led by David Mellen, of ...

Cycling Development Group

Local Access Forum

East Midlands Trains East Midlands Trains (EMT) was a British train operating company owned by the transport group Stagecoach, which operated the East Midlands franchise between November 2007 and August 2019. Following the Department for Transport (DfT) award ...

Stakeholders Forum Pedals operates as a stakeholder group representing cyclists in the Greater Nottingham area, as such it regularly scrutinises and comments on planning applications, highway changes and new policies. Pedals members also attend one off meetings to discuss plans for new infrastructure which will benefit or impact on cyclists. These have included:
Widening of the

A453 The A453 road was formerly the main trunk road connecting the English cities of Nottingham and Birmingham. However, the middle section of this mainly single-carriageway road has largely been downgraded to B roads or unclassified roads follo ...

Trunk Road, which will include a cycle path
Erewash Valley Trail, a circular walking and Cycling trail from Trent Lock to

Langley Mill Langley Mill is a large village in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. History Originally named ''Long Lea'', the village of Langley Mill was a major employer throughout the mid 1900s with many companies including The Flour Mi ...

Nottingham Express Transit Phase 2
HS2 cycleway, a proposed North south cycle route which will run parallel to the proposed

HS2 High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...

rail way line
Many Pedals members are also cycling instructors for RidewiseRidewise, 2014.
''Ridewise website''
" Accessed 12 April 2014. or are volunteer rangers as part of the

Sustrans Sustrans is a United Kingdom-based walking, wheeling and cycling charity, and the custodian of the National Cycle Network. Its flagship project is the National Cycle Network, which has created of signed cycle routes throughout the United K ...

Nottingham rangers group who help to maintain Route 6 and Route 15 of the

National Cycle Network The National Cycle Network (NCN) is the national cycling route network of the United Kingdom, which was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout Britain, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the cha ...

which pass through Nottingham. Pedals is affiliated with Cycle Nation and the

European Cyclists' Federation The European Cyclists' Federation (ECF) is a non-profit member-based umbrella federation of local, regional and national civil society organizations that promote cycling for both transportation and leisure. ECF has around 70 member organizati ...

. Pedals activists communicate regularly on campaigning issues with national organisations such as Twenty is Plenty and the

Cyclists' Touring Club Cycling UK is a trading name of the Cyclists' Touring Club (CTC), which is a charitable membership organisation supporting cyclists and promoting bicycle use. Cycling UK is registered at Companies House as "Cyclists’ Touring Club", and is co ...

. Pedals periodically host the annual meeting of the East Midlands Cycling Forum, which aims to bring together cycle campaign groups in the region.

Finance

Pedals is a

, the majority of its modest operating costs are covered by members subscriptions. Members receive minutes of meetings and newsletters.

History

Pedals started the Great Nottinghamshire Bike Ride in 1982, run by

Nottinghamshire County Council Nottinghamshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Nottinghamshire in England. It consists of 66 county councillors, elected from 56 electoral divisions every four years. The most recent election ...

from 1985 to 2010 and from 2011 to be run by the Perfect Motion Sports Management Consultancy in Beeston. In 1983 Pedals started the 'Summer Guided Rural Rides Programme', and continued to play a major role in these free Cycle Rides (subsequently called "Rural Rides"), funded and run by the County Council from 1985 to 2010 and from 2011-2013 by Ridewise, supported by Pedals.

Rural Rides and Nottingham Velo Venturers

Public participation in the Rural Rides programme declined from 2011-2013 and Ridewise dropped the name 'Rural Rides' in 2013, renaming their Facebook rides page "Explore Nottingham", which currently offers a limited programme of short rides aimed at non-cyclists. In 2014 a group of Pedals members and other Cyclists decided to revive the Rural Rides ethos (a varied programme of free guided cycle rides) under the name of Nottingham Velo Venturers, which has several rides a month (more in Summer). Nottingham Velo Venturers operates solely via its (very active) Facebook page, and so is independent of the funding issues that caused the demise of the original Rural Rides Programme.

Honours

The work of Hugh McClintock as a leading figure in Pedals was acknowledged in the 2004 New Year Honours List with an MBE "for services to cycling".Cycling enthusiast on honours list, 2003.
Cycling enthusiast on honours list
" Accessed 12 November 2014.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.pedals.org.uk
Facebook page

Twitter feed

Pedals group on Cyclescape
Cycling organisations in the United Kingdom Political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom Transport advocacy groups of the United Kingdom 1979 establishments in the United Kingdom Sports organizations established in 1979 Organisations based in Nottingham