I took a ride out to Hexham on Friday to see the Tour. The weather was warm and humid, and there were a couple of very heavy showers on the way out. I would say that the velomobile kept me dry, but with the temperature and that humidity I was sweating for England in there – especially on the climbs, where there was no appreciable air flow through the body.

You’ll also notice that I’ve added a windscreen to the velo. This reduces the wind on my face, and seems to do a good job of diverting the airflow to mostly above my head (although perhaps this also reduces cooling?). I think it also adds a bit of speed to the velomobile – not as much as with the race hood, but it feels quicker than without. No data to back this up at the moment, so I guess I’ll have to do something like a roll-down test. More on this, and how I made the windscreen later.

Finished the mould for the recumbent tourer’s seat today. The surface has been formed with a skin of 6mm flexible MDF, and I’ve used the offcuts from the sheet to define the edges. This stuff has grooves sawn into it so you can bend it around curves.

Next job is to prepare it for laying up the carbon fibre with a sheet of mould release film cut to shape, and edged with wax. After that, it’s cutting and gluing the foam core that’ll mean the finished structure only needs a few layers of carbon to achieve the required strength.

We were nervous of the rumours that the North Tyneside Council had already informally taken the decision to remove the Sunrise Cycleway from the coast, so we wrote to our elected members about this. The email was sent on 18th September, and we didn’t get so much as an acknowledgement from our elected ward councillors.

Four weeks later, I read in a news article by Carlton Reid that the route is definitely going to be taken out.

Anyway, here’s a copy of our email:

DATE: Fri 18/09/2020 11:08

TO: Carl Johnson (Cllr) <carl.johnson@northtyneside.gov.uk>; Karen Lee (Cllr) <karen.lee@northtyneside.gov.uk>; Willie Samuel (Cllr) <Willie.Samuel@northtyneside.gov.uk>; Sandra Graham (Cllr) <Sandra.Graham@northtyneside.gov.uk>; Margaret Hall (Cllr) <Margaret.Hall@northtyneside.gov.uk>; John O’Shea (Cllr) <John.O’Shea@northtyneside.gov.uk>; Norma Redfearn <Norma.Redfearn@northtyneside.gov.uk>; Sarah Day (Cllr) <sarah.day@northtyneside.gov.uk>

Dear Councillors and Mayor

We are writing to request that you take positive action to support the coastal strip cycle route from the Spanish City to Tynemouth, also now known as the “Sunrise Cycleway.” By any measure, this facility has been a huge success. In addition to our observations, and discussions with people in the local area, we are sure that the council’s own traffic monitoring data will reflect this.

We are, however, extremely concerned about the temporary nature of the route. We have been led to believe that the current plan is to remove the cycleway, and convert the route back to two-way motor traffic after just six months’ use. Further, we’ve been told that the council is preparing a bid to later reinstate and upgrade the route to a permanent solution at an unspecified future date.

We think this removal and re-introduction would be a serious mistake for the management of perceptions and expectations:

As with any change, it’s taken a while for people to get used to the new ways of getting about on the coast. There have been teething troubles, and there has also been opposition from a vocal minority. But the route is now an accepted part of the seaside environment here, and if it is removed, it will only serve to reset the clock on people’s change journeys. This will make the implementation of the permanent route significantly harder, and subject to the sort of delays seen with the redevelopment of the Spanish City site, which was held up for over a decade as the theoretical details of each new proposal were argued over.

We believe a better solution would be to simply extend the trial period by least a full year, and we urge the council to adopt this rather than needlessly removing this fantastic local amenity out of hand.  The benefits of this include collecting data over a longer and more meaningful period of time, analysing the results of the Sustrans survey, and working with relevant parties including ourselves to develop a permanent scheme. Last but not least, with restrictions introduced yesterday, people are once again being asked to avoid public transport and car traffic exceeding pre-Covid levels in some places: The need for more cycling and walking space into 2021 and beyond is now undeniable.

Over the last month we’ve been canvassing the opinions of local people. We’ve had a banner at the north end of the route, handed out leaflets, and encouraged people to participate in the council’s and Sustrans’ consultation on the route. Over a period of four different days at the end of August and start of September, we spoke to over a thousand people, and were astonished at the overwhelmingly positive attitude towards the cycleway and new layout. There were around 30 or so people were against it (i.e. roughly 3%), but the majority – 97% – were very much in favour. The people we spoke to were on foot, and on bikes; local residents and visitors; the young and the old; the able-bodied and those with disabilities. They said:

• “It separates out the people on bikes from people on foot. It’s safer for everyone”
• “It’s quieter and feels more pleasant and calmer”
• “It’s not just people in Lycra using it – there are children and families now”
• “It’s now a lot easier to cross the road”
• “We come here now because it’s safe to cycle and walk”

Most people were surprised that having seen the road cones replaced with the wands and orcas that the route isn’t permanent. We agree, and don’t really understand the logic for removing it, although there are still some improvements to be made. Obviously this is the whole point of these experimental schemes – they allow real world experience to be gained, and so overcome people’s immediate push-back against change, while also allowing genuine issues to be identified and fixed. Here are some preliminary observations:

• The black posts with white stripes which have been used to indicate drivers of vehicles should not use the route are a significant hazard to people on bikes. We witnessed a rider crash into one of these on the Bank Holiday weekend. He walked away from the scene with severe bruising and a broken helmet, but it could have been much worse. We understand this is not an isolated incident.
• The signage to tell people it’s a cycle route needs to be upgraded. People are still riding on the shared use path, unaware that there is now a dedicated space.
• The narrow section through Cullercoats needs signage / road markings and a redesign. We’ve seen riders on the wrong side of the posts, riding against the flow of south-bound traffic, or on the pavement.
• The section between the boatyard and the Queens Head needs a solution that caters to the need of the fishermen, while at the same time maintaining the route’s continuity for novices and small children who use it.

With adjustments to address some of these problems, we think the route will be even better. It would certainly good enough for a proper long-term trial until funds can be secured for the kind of place-making upgrades seen over the last few years around the Spanish City. There is no doubt only a permanent scheme will truly address some of these problems and provide the optimum quality.

We hope you agree, and will support keeping this vital local amenity, which benefits local residents and businesses, and brings visitors to the coast.

Yours faithfully

Karl McCracken – Whitley Bay
Billy Ward – Whitley Bay
Claire Prospert – Whitley Bay
And, Living Streets North Tyneside