Avoch Football Club supports Cycle Friendly Community

24 August 2015

MEMBERS of Avoch Football Club have been getting on their bikes to help boost cycling in the area.

Avoch, Fortrose and Rosemarkie were chosen by national cycling body Cycling Scotland as a pilot cycle friendly community, undertaking a range of projects promoting cycling.

Players from the Avoch team have been using their bikes to cycle to and from fixtures, and the club’s perimeter fence has been adorned with striking ‘Cycle Safe’ artwork, created by youngsters from local youth scheme Fusion.

“Everyone’s behind it,” said Mikey Hind, of the Avoch club. “Quite a lot of the guys use their bikes for getting around and for recreation with their families and we all support measures to make cycling in and around the village safer.”

The cycle friendly communities project saw hundreds attend a highly successful Cycling Spring Fling event held in Fortrose earlier in the year.  There have also been a number of local cycle skills training sessions, Dr Bike clinics, where people can take their bikes along for free checks and repairs, and guided bike rides for cyclists of all ages.

The scheme is a follow on from Transition Black Isle’s Million Miles project, which saw car usage across the peninsula slashed, and cycle trainers appointed to help encourage people of all ages to discover the joys of two-wheeled travel.

A cycle map of the Black Isle was produced as part of the project, and printed guides showing bike-friendly routes between villages are available from the Transition Black Isle website and at local community markets . A Black Isle cycle journey planner is available online here.

Avoch mum-of-two Shirley Kelly was one of the Million Miles cycle leaders and is now a member of the cycle friendly communities steering group.
“Money was made available to us through Cycling Scotland for us to look at improving cycling in our local communities of Avoch, Fortrose and Rosemarkie,” she explained.  “We’re delighted the local Avoch football team have lent their support to the campaign.”

Members of the steering group have canvassed opinion from local people about what facilities they think should be put in place to make cycling in Avoch, Fortrose and Rosemarkie better.

“Top of the list when we spoke to people about what they wanted were improvements to make the area safer for cyclists.” Shirley said.

“We’re also keen to help educate all road users, including car drivers, lorry drivers, bus drivers as well as cyclists, about making the roads a safer place for all who use them.”

The next event planned as part of the cycle safe communities initiative is a Dr Bike session on Saturday (5 September) at Avoch Community Centre.

To find out more or to get involved e-mail million.miles@transitionblackisle.org