CABINET Paper Meeting date: 20 September 2005 No. From: Cabinet Member for Economic Wellbeing & Regeneration and Corporate Director – Economy, 11 Culture & Environment

CYCLE TOURISM PROSPECTUS

SECTION A: RECOMMENDATION OF CABINET MEMBER

1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1.1 The purpose of this report is to consider the outcome of the consultation on the Cycle Tourism Strategy (as requested by Cabinet – 30 November 2004) and how the authority could work with public and private sector partners to realise the potential for cycle tourism in the County. The Prospectus for Cycle Tourism in (Appendix 1) has been developed following consultation on the draft Cycle Tourism Strategy and sets out in a concise yet comprehensive manner, the opportunities to take forward and develop cycle tourism in the County. It covers all aspects of cycle tourism from the development of new routes and hubs through to the need for improved promotion and development of facilities.

2.0 POLICY POSITION, BUDGETARY AND EQUALITY IMPLICATIONS AND LINKS TO CORPORATE STRATEGY

2.1 The Prospectus for Cycle Tourism in Cumbria is in accordance with the cycling policies listed in the LTP. It also accords with the policies on the strategic transport networks, transport assessments, travel plans and policies on access and town centres set out in the deposit Cumbria and Joint Structure Plan 2001-2016.

2.2 The prospectus is in accordance with the Council’s Cycling Development Action Plan, in particular, actions 3, 4, 6, 12a and 12b.

Page 1 of 4 2.3 The implementation of the Cycle Tourism Prospectus will have implications for the Council’s capital and revenue transport budget. These are being considered as part of the budget planning process. The implications could be the need for a revenue commitment of £20 000 a year for at least the next 3 years to part fund a cycle development post.

2.4 The report has no equality implications.

2.5 The report is in accordance with the Corporate Strategy in terms of aim B ‘Enhancing Economic Well-being’ through strengthening the contribution of tourism to Cumbria’s economy.

3.0 RECOMMENDATION

3.1 It is recommended that the contents of the Prospectus for Cycle Tourism in Cumbria are noted and that the County Councils actions be taken forward through its approved Cycling Development Action Plan and the LTP, subject to any necessary budget approvals.

Tim Heslop Cabinet Member for Economic Well-being and Regeneration

SECTION B: ADVICE OF CORPORATE DIRECTOR – COMMUNITY, ECONOMY AND ENVIRONMENT

4.0 BACKGROUND

4.1 In 2004 a draft Cycle Tourism Strategy for Cumbria was prepared. It set out a series of proposals aimed at making Cumbria the premier destination for leisure cycling and through this generate major economic as well as environmental benefits for the County.

4.2 During 2005 the draft ‘strategy’ was the subject of consultation with a range of organisations involved in cycling. The key issues which arose from the consultation were as follows:

§ Greater emphasis should be given to mountain bike opportunities. § There was a need for more baseline information regarding the needs and potential of the cycle tourism market. § Greater reference was required to the importance of integrating cycling with other transport modes. § The role of family/local cycling should be given increased emphasis. § A number of places were identified as potential cycling hubs. § The structure to oversee the development of the strategy should be clear and not involve the setting up of additional groups.

4.3 Rather than trying to amend the strategy to reflect the concerns raised it was considered more appropriate to produce a fresh and much more concise document, the Cycle Tourism Prospectus, with greater reference to issues not fully encompassed Page 2 of 4 in the draft strategy. This includes opportunities for increasing the role of mountain biking, and family cycling on traffic free trails.

4.4 The development of the range of opportunities highlighted in the ‘prospectus’ to develop cycle tourism in the County will be overseen by the Council’s Cycle Co- ordination Group. This officer group which was set up earlier this year to aid the delivery of measures to increase cycling comprises a range of organisations interested in the development and promotion of cycling across the County. 4.5 However in order to make significant progress in taking forward the key issues highlighted in the prospectus there is a need for a new full-time cycle development post. This person would not only be responsible for the promotion, marketing and development of cycle tourism across the County but would also assist in the development of cycling in the Key Service Centres.

4.6 The post which would be funded in partnership with Cumbria Tourist Board would have a budgetary implication for the Council of £20,000 a year for the next three years. This will need to be considered as part of preparing the budget for 2006/07 and beyond.

5.0 OPTIONS

5.1 The option is that the contents of the Cycle Tourism Prospectus are noted and the actions are taken forward through the Cycling Development Action Plan and LTP.

6.0 CONCLUSION

6.1 It is considered that the Cycle Tourism Prospectus provides an attractive and concise document which clearly sets out all the key opportunities (that need to be taken forward in partnership with the public and private sector) and the significant benefits for cycle tourism and the wider local economy.

6.2 The necessary framework is in place to oversee the development of the Cycle Tourism Prospectus though it will require the appointment of a Cycle Development Officer to ensure the required improvements are carried out and promoted.

Allan McNicoll September 2005

APPENDICES

Appendix 1 : The Prospectus for Cycle Tourism in Cumbria

Page 3 of 4 IMPLICATIONS

Staffing: Yes Financial: Yes £20K revenue budget required if new post is to be supported. This and other costs to be considered for inclusion in budgets at the appropriate time. Electoral Division(s): All

Executive Decision Yes

Key Decision No

If a Key Decision, is the proposal published in the current Forward Plan? N/A

Is the decision exempt from call-in on grounds of urgency? No

If exempt from call-in, has the agreement of the Chair of the relevant N/A Overview and Scrutiny Committee been sought or obtained?

N.B. If an executive decision is made, then a decision cannot be implemented until the expiry of the eighth working day after the date of the meeting - unless the decision is urgent and exempt from call-in and the Head of Member Services has obtained the necessary approvals.

PREVIOUS RELEVANT COUNCIL OR EXECUTIVE DECISIONS [including Local Committees]

Report to Cabinet – A Cycle Tourism Strategy for Cumbria 2005-1-, 30 November 2004

BACKGROUND PAPERS

Draft Cycle Tourism Strategy 2005-10

RESPONSIBLE CABINET MEMBER

Tim Heslop, Cabinet Member for Economic Well-being and Regeneration

Contact: Allan McNicoll, telephone number 01228 606735 e-mail: [email protected].

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Appendix 1

A prospectus for cycle tourism in Cumbria

Introduction As one of Britain’s most beautiful and lightly populated areas, Cumbria offers fantastic opportunities for the recreational cyclist on the hundreds of miles of delightful quiet lanes criss-crossing the county from the coast through the Lake District National Park to the and for the mountain biker on the challenging and spectacular bridleway and byway network.

There are waymarked woodland trails in Grizedale and Whinlatter Forests, easy traffic-free trails on railway paths in the west of the county near and , long distance routes including the famous Sea to Sea (C2C) Cycle Route, orienteering events such as Polaris and Trailquest requiring stamina and map reading skills, road races and events such as the Fred Whitton Challenge, taking in all of the Lakeland passes, and hundreds of excellent pubs, cafes and tearooms to satisfy cyclists’ hunger and thirst.

For spares, repairs and bike hire Cumbria has bike shops from Barrow to and many places in between. In terms of accommodation, each year there are more and more places that cater for the needs of cyclists with a dry and secure place to leave bikes overnight. Two new signposted long distance National Cycle Network routes will soon open: ‘Walney to Wear’ runs from Barrow to and ‘Hadrian’s Cycleway’ from Ravenglass to Newcastle; for mountain bikers there is a new singletrack route soon to open in Grizedale, sponsored by North Face.

What is cycle tourism? Perhaps it is easier to say what it is not: it does not include utility journeys such as cycling to work, to school or to the shops. It covers just about everything else, whether it is a group of local riders out for the day or a family who are in Cumbria on holiday hiring bikes in Grizedale. It covers mountain bikers enjoying the challenge of steep bridleways or taking part in a Trailquest event, long distance cyclists riding across the country on ’ C2C cycle route or a couple on a short break, cycling for a few miles from their accommodation to enjoy lunch in a good pub. It includes charity rides, fun rides, challenge rides and other events.

The linking theme? All of the above activities have at their core the concept of people with increased leisure time enjoying themselves on bikes with money to spend on morning coffees, pub lunches, afternoon teas, ice creams, soft drinks and snacks and for some, bike hire, bike guides, leaflets, maps, guidebooks and entry fees for organised events. For those on longer tours there is, in addition, overnight accommodation, spares and repairs at bike shops and perhaps luggage transfer from one guesthouse to the next. For the casual cyclist there is bike hire or guided rides led by trained instructors.

The prospects for growth There are 10 million day visits a year to Cumbria and 5 million overnight visitors (source - Cumbria STEAM 2002) so there is no shortage of tourists to the region.

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Tourism in Cumbria is a £1bn industry. Overall cycle tourism is worth about £33 million annually in Cumbria, more than half of which is spent in the National Park. There were an estimated 23,000 dedicated cycling holidays taken in Cumbria in 2002, of which 12,000 were accounted for by the C2C. The big majority are aged 25-55 and cyclists tend to be higher spenders - the average daily spend of C2C cyclists is approx £41. The National Cycle Network has experienced year on year growth in usage. In 2002 the NCN carried about 50 million trips by bike. The highest growth is on traffic -free sections. The number of visitors on the Camel Trail in Cornwall doubled from 245,000 to 490,000 between 1998 and 2002. Recreational cycling offers the opportunity to encourage people to explore not just the spectacular Central Lakes but beautiful areas throughout the whole county, areas where the roads are quieter, thus spreading tourist spending more widely and extending the season for accommodation and refreshment providers and cycle businesses.

The ideal would be the construction of a flagship product such as a long section of railway path within the National Park or in the eastern half of the county (see Fig x), a circuit around one of the larger akesl (Thirlmere for example), the high quality surfacing of the Lancaster Canal towpath north of Burton-in-Kendal or a series of challenging singletrack trails in Forestry Commission holdings: Wales and Scotland lead the way with the latter and have shown remarkable increases in tourism as a result.

Until large-scale funding is available to create new traffic-free trails offering experiences to families and novice cyclists to compare with the best in the rest of the country, one needs to look to the existing road network and public rights of way network. Well-researched, clearly waymarked circular bike routes using networks of quiet lanes or bridleways, byways and unclassified roads (UCRs), extending outwards from strategic car parks, stations and arrival points, described in clear-to-use leaflets are a relatively inexpensive way of creating new products which can be marketed as fun days out.

Another option for getting more people on bikes is the development of a far more extensive events calendar with more races, challenges, charity rides and fun rides. These need to be well organised, marshalled and signposted but have the potential to draw hundreds of people to each event, as is already the case with the Fred Whitton Challenge and the Grizedale Mountain Bike Challenge.

Summary of the Cycle Tourism Strategy for Cumbria In 2004 Sustrans was commissioned to write a Cycle Tourism Strategy for Cumbria. The document makes the case that the development of cycle tourism could bring environmental, economic, health, social and cultural benefits both to visitors and to local people, spreading benefits of tourist income to communities and businesses in less frequented areas. It recommends setting up the post of a cycle tourism officer, better marketing of cycling, hosting world class cycling events and the creation of cycling hubs, or centres of excellence with waymarked, mapped routes extending out from them. It suggests the development and promotion of three pilot hubs - Kirkby Stephen, Keswick, Windermere.

It is most important to recognise that a modest start with a small number of highly successful hubs earning a well-deserved reputation for excellence will serve Cumbria’s tourism far more effectively than nominating a large number of cycling hubs with little to distinguish them from other similar towns. A centre of cycling excellence should offer good quality, waymarked and mapped routes to as many categories of cyclist as possible, whether a family with children, a group of mountain bikers or cyclists exploring the lane network. A town could make a good

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case for future ‘hub’ status by working to create nearby traffic-free routes or promoting regular, well-organised cycling events, challenges or festivals.

Four main areas of the cycle tourism market in Cumbria are identified below.

1. Family cycling on traffic -free trails Families and novices are looking for relatively flat, waymarked, traffic -free trails on good quality surfaces, starting from a car park and preferably with a cafe or pub along the way. These sorts of trails are mainly concentrated in West Cumbria on the old railway paths starting from Whitehaven and Workington. There is also a very popular railway path running east from Keswick to Threlkeld, forming part of the famous C2C route. The Eskdale Trail is a little rougher, following stony bridleways along the Esk Valley near to Ravenglass. A growing network of short traffic-free trails known as the Furness Greenways are being developed on the Furness Peninsula around Barrow. At the other end of the county, the Caldew Cycleway runs between Carlisle and Dalston. The trails in Grizedale Forest, the premier recreational cycling facility in the Central Lakes, are certainly not flat but, with the exception of the newly opened North Face Singletrack Trail, they are aimed at the casual cyclist rather than the dedicated mountain biker; the forest trails at Whinlatter are steeper. Aimed at the ‘Youth Cycling’ market, more provision for BMX, trials and dirt jumping would cater for tourists and local residents alike, giving children and teenagers the chance to have fun, get fit and develop cycling skills.

2. Mountain biking Mountain biking is the fastest growing segment of the market and Cumbria is blessed with an extensive network of bridleways and byways offering a huge variety of spectacular trails, particularly in the National Park and east towards the Pennines. It should be noted that unlike much of the Midlands and Southern England where the trails are largely impassable from November to April because of sticky mud, the nature of Cumbria’s geology allows year-round riding on excellent stone-based tracks. It is also the scene for a number of events such as Polaris, Trailquest and the Grizedale Mountain Bike Challenge. There are various shops which act as a focus for mountain biking in the surrounding area. Cumbria will soon have a purpose-built forest singletrack trail in Grizedale, a cycling product which has proved to be highly successful in Wales (for example at Coed y Brenin and Afan Argoed) and Southern Scotland where the 7stanes project has created seven centres of mountain biking excellence throughout Dumfries & Galloway and the Scottish Borders. Cumbria is a particularly good centre for cycle training, particularly Mountain Bike Leadership Training.

3. Cycling on the road network With the exception of two dozen busy A roads throughout the county, where recreational cycling cannot be recommended except to the experienced and hardened road cyclist, Cumbria has many hundreds of miles of quiet roads, partic ularly outside the Central Lakes, which lend themselves to a multiplicity of routes aimed at a variety of cyclists. Road cycling takes in everything from short waymarked rides on quiet lanes starting from a central hub to tough organised events to test strength and stamina such as the Fred Whitton Challenge. The linking element is that the rides use roads with sealed surfaces meaning that they can be used by any sort of bike at any time of the year. Costs involved in the provision of this category of cycling are for the research, mapping and waymarking of the rides or for the marshalling of events, which may take the form of charity rides, fun rides or challenges. It should be pointed out that all roads in Cumbria are generally quieter from October to March especially during the week (ie not at weekends) and the cost of overnight accommodation can be cheaper.

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4. Long distance touring Much of this has become associated with Sustrans’ highly popular Sea to Sea (C2C) route from the West Coast of Cumbria to the North Sea Coast. There are growing numbers of other long distance routes in the area created by Sustrans as part of the National Cycle Network, for example the Walney to Wear route, Hadrian’s Cycleway, the Pennine Cycleway and the Reivers Cycle Route. The Eden Valley Circular Route (122 miles) is a mapped but not waymarked circular route between Carlisle and Appleby. The vast majority of the annual total of 4000 people doing the Land’s End to John o’Groats ride will spend one or two nights in Cumbria on their way through the county.

Services and Facilities Cumbria is well-served with bike shops, spread widely throughout the county from Barrow in the south to Carlisle in the north (see Fig x), although there are still gaps in the market for example in Windermere, Grange, Kirkby Lonsdale, Sedbergh and Appleby. There are also many cycle hire facilities, the most popular of which is located at Grizedale. With their years of experience, local cycling businesses should be consulted in depth about the sort of waymarked routes that Cumbria should be promoting.

Events There are surprisingly few annual cycling events in Cumbria: the most popular, both attracting about 400 riders, are the Fred Whitton Challenge, a 116- mile road ride taking in all the Lakeland passes and the Grizedale Mountain Bike Challenge. There is also a series of bike orienteering events running throughout the year organised by Mint Cake MTB: a winter Trailquest series and a summer Lanequest series. Cumbria occasionally hosts a two-day orienteering event known as Polaris.

Case Studies

C2C There are many suggestions as to why the 144- mile Sea to Sea Cycle Route is so popular but consensus seems to be reached on the following: it can be done over three days (ie a long weekend), it has very obvious start and finish points on the West and East Coast of Britain, it represents a good challenge for people of moderate fitness and seems to be very much favoured by groups of males in their thirties and forties coming across from the Tyne & Wear area and cycling back home. There are plenty of places to stay along the way and frequent refreshment stops. Many bike businesses serve the needs of C2C cyclists, arranging packages or helping with logistics. However, feedback suggests that there is still room for improvement in accommodation, support services and information provision. It is hoped that Walney to Wear and Hadrian’s Cycleway will repeat the success of C2C.

Grizedale Forest Attracting circa 250,000 visitors a year, Grizedale has much in its favour: it is centrally located, less than 10 miles from Ambleside and even closer to Bowness via the ferry across Lake Windermere; it offers superb views in every direction, there are scores of miles of forest tracks and bridleways criss-crossing the woodland; it is served by an excellent Visitor Centre and bike hire centre and is soon to offer Cumbria’s first purpose-built singletrack route, sponsored by North Face. By far the most important of the cycle hire facilities in Cumbria, Grizedale

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Mountain Bike Centre has in the region of 10,000 hires per annum. At the height of the season, one bike may be hired four times in a single day, and there may be as many as 400 hires in a day. With careful management to ensure there is no user conflict, the creation of an easy family-friendly route using the valley bottom and more singletrack routes for keen mountain bikers, there is no reason why it cannot continue to grow.

Coed y Brenin, near Dolgellau, Wales The singletrack mountain bike trails in the Forestry Commission holding of Coed y Brenin have revived the fortunes of the tourist trade in the Dolgellau / Barmouth area, bringing numbers in excess of 100,000 annually with a spend of £3.5 million, extending the season throughout the year. Graded in the same way as ski runs, the trails encourage mountain bikers to do them over and over again, perfecting their technique as they gain knowledge of the twists and turns, climbs and descents of each trail. They are built in a way to ensure there is no user conflict with other forms of recreation in the area and allow riders to concentrate on the trails without needing to navigate with maps and compasses. Keen mountain bikers will travel long distances to try out the best trails in the country and their average spend is far higher than walkers. Both Wales and Southern Scotland have developed several centres of mountain biking excellence attracting large numbers of visitors.

Camel Trail, Padstow, Cornwall Set in the heart of a very popular tourist area, the 16- mile Camel Trail is a flat, traffic-free, recreational cycle route built on the course of an old railway running along the spectacularly beautiful Camel estuary. It has grown in popularity each year and now has 500,000 visitors annually, bringing £3 million to the local economy, not least to the many cycle hire companies in Padstow, Wadebridge and Bodmin. There are many popular railway trails throughout the country and in many people’s minds they have become fully identified with what constitutes recreational cycling. Witness the success of the Tarka Trail in Devon, the Cuckoo Trail in Sussex, the Bristol & Bath Railway Path, several Peak District trails, the Mawddach Trail from Dolgellau to Barmouth and dozens more all over Britain. Cumbria is certainly well behind most other counties in this respect and the most obvious gap in Cumbria’s cycle provision is an easy flagship traffic-free family route on a railway path or around a lake / reservoir.

Bristol’s Biggest Bike Ride It may seem bizarre to use a city of 400,000 as an example of cycling best practice for Cumbria where the largest population centre is only 50,000, but the lesson is the following: starting off some 10 years ago with only a couple of hundred riders, Bristol’s Biggest Bike Ride now attracts 6,000 people each year. The event, taking place on a Sunday morning in June, is actually divided into four rides of different lengths to appeal to all abilities, all using the same starting point, from an 8- mile there-and-back traffic-free route for families right up to a 45- mile challenge for fit cyclists. Roads used on the family ride are shut for the morning, the event is policed and marshalled throughout, there is a big fair at the finish line with bands and food stalls and face painting for children and it acts as a celebration of cycling during Bike Week.

Opportunities Cycle Hire The logistics of bringing several bikes up by car means that many people who would otherwise consider themselves cyclists leave their bikes at home and opt

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instead to hire bikes for one day of their holiday in Cumbria. There are in addition, of course, thousands of others who would not consider themselves cyclists but who nevertheless have heard of Grizedale Forest or would like to explore Cumbria’s lanes and tracks on a fine summer’s day.

The success of cycle hire companies based near popular traffic -free trails is beyond doubt - one need only look at the plethora of such businesses along the Camel Trail in Cornwall, near the well-used trails in the Peak District (High Peak, Tissington and Manifold Trails for example) or around Rutland Water in Leicestershire. Within Cumbria, one of the most successful hire business is at Grizedale where there are waymarked forest trails, but there is potential for other outlets if the public can be persuaded that there are good, safe waymarked routes starting from the cycle hire centre, preferably onto lanes carrying very few vehicles or onto easy rights of way with a good stone surface.

The quality of hire bikes is an issue - there is a need for a seal of approval, a quality assurance that can be monitored.

Route and Activity packaging Many visitors to Cumbria see cycling as just one activity of many that they may sample while they are in the area. They may well want to try out a bit of mountain biking, a bit of fell walking, a session on a windsurf board, dinghy or kayak and maybe a bit of rock climbing and abseiling. There is scope for packaging activity breaks with a mix of pursuits. For this type of customer, making best use of time is essential and the cycling element should include hire of a good quality bike equipped with panniers /daypack and basic tools and good well-researched routes highlighted on clear and easy-to-use mapping. Other options include arranging the logistics and accommo dation for cyclists doing a long distance ride, planning out each day’s ride and offering to return cyclists to their car or take them to a train station at the end of the trip.

Accommodation Location is highly important. If an establishment hopes to attract overnight visitors on long distance routes then it is quite obvious it should be located on or very near to the route itself. If it lies within easy walking distance of a pub where cyclists can enjoy an evening meal then so much the better. If there is no pub in walking distance (and cyclists are a bit reluctant to cycle to the pub in the evening having spent all day in the saddle) then the establishment should either offer evening meals or offer to take guests to a pub or arrange a taxi for them. If the accommodation provider wants people based there for several days it helps if there are good quality routes starting right from the front door as it is an inconvenience to be constantly loading bikes on and off cars.

Cyclists demands are fairly simple: they want somewhere dry and secure to leave their bikes overnight; if they are mountain biking they would be delighted to use a hose to wash the mud off their bikes; lastly they would like somewhere to dry out wet panniers and clothes if they have been caught out by rain. Additional touches that make a place bike-friendly are information about local routes and nearby bike shops, a place in the dry to carry out some basic bike maintenance, the chance of an early breakfast and the offer to wash and dry clothes overnight.

Sales and repairs If you use a bike enough, parts will need replacing. If you like cycling you are always on the lookout for new gear - new clothes, new tyres, a new computer,

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new panniers. What better occasion to browse in a bike shop than when you are on holiday and have time? As retail therapy becomes an ever more important component of leisure time you can also envisage a high volume of bike-related purchases from people looking for a half-day trip as they do at present, for example on a trip to Hawkshead to buy clothes. Bike clothes are now fashionable items. Larger bike shops offer a good wet weather option, particularly if the bike shop is close to a cafe (Wheelbase + Wilfs Cafe in Staveley, for example).

Mountain bike trails Legally you are allowed to cycle on bridleways, byways, Roads Used as Public Paths (RUPPs) and all parts of the highway network including Unclassified Roads (UCRs). There is tremendous scope to create a core network of trails which are better maintained and better signposted than the rest, enabling bikers to spend the majority of their time offroad. Better maintained means that riders of reasonable fitness should be able to ride and not have to walk sections which are at present too boggy, too overgrown or so rough it is just as easy to carry the bike. This core network should be mapped, with the resulting (saleable) mapping used as a management tool to direct people towards routes which can sustain numbers of riders without damaging environmentally sensitive areas and without exacerbating issues of user conflict. The Lakeland Association of Mountain Bikers (LAMB) and local bike shops have an excellent knowledge of the trails in Cumbria and should be used as a resource to help with the production of any such map.

Frequently the problem is in getting people from the popular tourist centres such as Keswick, Ambleside and Windermere to the start of the trails. More thought should be given to signing the best way out of towns onto the start of the network. A programme should be set in motion for the relevant local authorities to install signs.

In addition to the Rights of Way network, the Forestry Commission takes a very pro-active view about people cycling in their woodlands provided there are no timber operations going on. Two forests, Grizedale and Whinlatter, have waymarked trails although most of these are aimed more at fit casual cyclists than out-and-out mountain bikers. However, the first purpose-built singletrack route is opening shortly in Grizedale and more are to follow, funding permitting. Similar forestry routes in Wales at Coed y Brenin, Cwmcarn, Afan Argoed, Gwydyr and Nant yr Arian attract many thousands of visits each year and have provided an immense boost to tourism in the area around Dolgellau / Barmouth. There are also centres in Scotland, notably the 7stanes project in Dumfries & Galloway / the Scottish Borders and downhill courses around Fort William. Many events and races, both national and international have grown around these facilities. Besides Whinlatter and Grizedale there are also smaller Forestry Commission holdings in the western half of the National Park at Miterdale, Blengdale, Ennerdale and Broughton Moor.

Finally, the development of the Pennine Bridleway may open up all sorts of opportunities in the Pennines in the east of the county, an area not normally associated with mountain biking.

Guiding Detailed map reading does not come easily to the majority of the population, particularly if this involves using the Rights of Way network, nor does bike maintenance. Many samplers and dabblers prefer to be guided, safe in the knowledge that someone else is in charge if something goes wrong like taking a wrong turning or suffering a puncture. A well-guided tour will take into account

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the level of fitness and experience of the group and plan a route accordingly that will leave satisfied customers glad of being made to feel special having had a great experience in Cumbria’s beautiful landscape. As stated under ‘Bike Hire’ the quality of the bikes used on the guided tour are vitally important. Schools or a group of adults from a corporate residential course might be typical customers.

Events and challenges These form some of the greatest untapped market in recreational cycling in Cumbria. They do not require large amounts spent on infrastructure in the form of trail building, trail improvement or land negotiation. They do need thorough planning and organisation, plenty of marshalls and liaison with the police if large numbers are to use the road network, especially if lane closures are required or busy roads must be crossed. There is a group mentality which likes mass participation events and if properly marshalled and policed this sort of event could make a very bold statement in the summer months ie a road circuit of Coniston Water, Derwent Water or Thirlmere that is safe for children to ride because riders are segregated from traffic on this special day. They could perhaps run once a month throughout summer and throughout Cumbria.

There also seems to be a large prospective market for challenges to compare with the walking challenges both in Cumbria and elsewhere such as the 3000ft peaks (Munros) or the Bob Graham Round or the Three Peaks or the Lyke Wake Walk or running challenges such as the Coniston14 or marathons. A challenge to cover a long hard route within a 24-hour period might be one option, another might be the creation of a series of classic rides that people could tick off having done them, the sort of ride that might take six to eight hours for a fit rider to do. ‘The Cumbrian Hundreds’ might cover road rides of at least 100 miles and ‘The Big Knobblies’ could be classic mountain bike challenges.

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Route development As stated in several other places, the sort of route developme nt that will create the fastest growth in numbers of cyclists in Cumbria is easy, family-friendly, traffic-free routes on dismantled railways, or routes such as the Lancaster Canal towpath. Within a woodland setting there is a need for relatively flat forestry routes or purpose-built forest singletrack routes, either in the established centres of Grizedale and Whinlatter or in the other less well-known holdings at Miterdale, Blengdale, Ennerdale, Broughton Moor and other small woodlands in the western part of the National Park. There are also much larger but more remote Forestry Commission holdings at Kershope, northeast of Carlisle. Certain routes around reservoirs or lakes (Haweswater and Thirlmere for example) might become a reality if footpaths were given permissive cycleway status.

The tourist potential for popularly located dismantled railways converted to recreational use cannot be understated: the Camel Trail in Cornwall has 500,000 visitors a year and generates £3 million for the local economy. The network of all the unconverted dismantled railways in Cumbria is shown in Fig x

In the meantime the National Cycle Network will progress, creating long distance routes across the county and individual authorities may choose to waymark circular lane rides, supported by accompanying leaflets. Consideration should be given to developing a route running roughly parallel with the Settle to Carlisle railway enabling people to cycle one way and catch the train back. A further advantage of this route is that the train climbs to almost 350m / 1150ft at Garsdale Station so that cyclists could use the train to climb the hill and cycle back down to Carlisle.

For mountain biking, the creation of an area of outstanding quality where bridleways are improved from bog and mud to stone-based tracks might be considered in the triangle formed by the M6 to the east, the A592 to the west and the A591 / A685 to the south (ie north of Kendal). If this is too radical then a core network of bridleways and byways throughout the county might receive attention to improve drainage and surface quality and make waymarking more useful (Exmoor National Park would be a good example to emulate for the waymarking).

Print There seems to be a general consensus that more cycling maps for Cumb ria will help the growth of recreational cycling. An overall Cumbria Cycle Map could show the following: traffic -free trails, Forestry Commission holdings, good bases for mountain biking, good areas for rides on quiet lane networks, waymarked National Cycle Network routes and other waymarked circular road routes, cycle shops, cycle hire, other cycle services (ie guides). This would be packed full of information encouraging people to find out more via websites and phone numbers. Mountain bike trails would need to be covered by other maps (see below). The Cumbria Cycle Map could also contain details of events and event organisers, perhaps pointing the way to this being an annual publication with information updated each year.

Moving beyond an overall Cumbria Cycle Map one needs to consider what sort of maps best cater for the needs of the different categories of cyclists ie family cyclists, lane / road cyclists, long distance tourers and mountain bikers. Easy family-friendly trails could be covered by individual leaflets. Lane / road cyclists may either buy guidebooks (£5 to £10) containing several rides, or individual

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leaflets (50p to £2) describing 3 - 6 rides. Long distance tourers can buy the Sustrans maps or use the Cumbria Cycle Map mentioned above.

This leaves mountain bikers: they too may buy guidebooks describing several rides or a leaflet covering two or three rides. If new maps are produced they should show the quality of the trail (boggy / grass / rough stone / smooth stone), technical sections where extra skills are required, gradients up and down, viewpoints, popularity with other user groups, refreshment stops and cycle shops. Dartmoor National Park have produced such a map, published by Harveys. As Cumbria is a large county there is likely to be a need for more than one map. The best mountain biking in the county lies within the Lake District National Park and east towards the Pennines and the Howgills.

Website As with the mapping the general consensus is that all cycling activity should be brought under one umbrella called ‘Cycle Cumbria’ or ‘Cycling Cumbria’ which then enables people to click on an area and a category of cycling to find out what sort of rides will suit them. However, a case could also be made for a dedicated ‘Mountain Bike Cumbria’ website, just as the Wales Tourist Board has set up a ‘MTB Wales’ website. A well-designed website will enable users to locate all the information they need for the ride itself, bike hire, bike shops and if necessary bike-friendly accommodation. Advances in technology may soon allow cyclists and mountain bikers to carry all the information they need for a route to be stored on a handlebar- mounted GPS device.

Tourist Information Centres It is vital that the TIC staff know about what is in their area so that when a member of the public comes in and says ‘I’d like to go for a bike ride / take the kids for a bike ride / go mountain biking’ they will be able to help. Ideally one member of the staff would have an interest in cycling and would have ridden some of the nearby routes. If this not feasible then knowledge of the (yet to be created) Cumbria Cycle Map with all its possibilities should be easy to master. There may be scope for an experienced local cyclist / mountain biker to give a broad picture of the local rides to the staff, or for training and familiarisation programmes to be set up.

Public transport and bikes With the exception of the Kendal to Windermere line there are no railway services running into the heart of the Lake District so there is a need to encourage more transport operators to adapt coaches and buses to carry bikes and to promote those who do, such as Mountain Goat or the boat services on Windermere. Public transport can allow cyclists to enjoy a wind-assisted one way ride or to get from mainline stations such as Penrith to the forest trails in Whinlatter.

Key organisations and contacts Cumbria County Council www.cumbria.gov.uk South Lakeland District Council www.southlakeland.gov.uk Allerdale Borough Council www.allerdale.gov.uk Copeland Borough Council www.copelandbc.gov.uk Council www.eden.gov.uk Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council www.barrowbc.gov.uk Carlisle City Council www.carlisle.gov.uk

Arnside Silverdale AONB www.arnsidesilverdaleaonb.org.uk Solway AONB www.solwaycoastaonb.org.uk

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North Pennines AONB www.northpennines.org.uk

Lake District National Park www.lake-district.gov.uk Yorkshire Dales National Park www.yorkshiredales.org.uk Cumbria Tourist Board www.gocumbria.co.uk Forest Enterprise www.forestry.gov.uk Rural Regeneration Cumbria www.ruralcumbria.co.uk North West Development Agency www.nwda.co.uk West Lakes Renaissance www.westlakesrenaissance.co.uk English Regions Cycling Development Team www.nationalcyclingstrategy.org.uk

Sustrans www.sustrans.org.uk Lakeland Association of Mountain Bikers (LAMB) www.lambmtb.org.uk CTC www.ctc.org.uk

Business Links www.businesslink.gov.uk CREA www.crea.co.uk

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