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Bike North Advocacy Officer Wins Award	1
This is who we are!	1
Sydney's Great New Cycleways	2
What's happening locally	3
Calendar
Other Editions

Editor: Catherine Stuart
Production: Keith Griffin

The views expressed in Chain Mail articles are those of the authors only and do not necessarily represent either the common views shared by a majority of Bike North members, or Bike North policy as formulated by the Bike North Executive Committee.

Bike North Advocacy Officer Wins Award

On Friday 5 September 2003, Bike North's Advocacy Offi cer was honoured by the award of the Cycling Promotion Fund Cycling Advocate of the Year. Carolyn New is a joint winner of this award which recognises her dedicated work as Advocacy Offi cer in Bike North as well as her work with the North Shore Bicycle Group and Bicycle New South Wales.

Carolyn's hard work and enthusiasm in her role as Advocacy Offi cer is well known amongst Bike North members. During her two years as Advocacy Offi cer, Carolyn has played a strong role in shaping a number of Bike North's current advocacy projects including: co-ordinating Bike North advocacy submissions; supporting and resourcing the Local Working Groups; developing publications; and actively resourcing Bike North promotional activities.

Carolyn's award is an honour for all Bike North, and especially the many members who have helped out at promotional events, participated in Bike North advocacy projects or worked to improve cycling in their local area.

The Cycling Advocate of the Year award is one of a range of Bicycling Achievement Awards introduced by the Cycling Promotion Fund to recognise and acknowledge special achievements of cycling advocates. The award was presented at the Cycling Promotion Fund dinner just prior to the Bicycling Australia Show. Bike North is proud of Carolyn's achievements.

This is who we are!

We know that you have all been waiting for it Ð so here it is Ð the results of the Bike North Survey. From the general part of the survey it is clear that most members feel that they are getting value for money from their Bike North (BN) membership and also see their membership as supporting cycling in general. This was further refl ected by the fact that 72% of our members are also members of Bicycle NSW.

We asked you for what purpose you use your bike. The results show that most members use their bikes for recreation or fi tness (63%), and use their bikes for this purpose at least once a week. Around 36% of the respondents use their bikes for commuting once a week or more.

If you were wondering what type of bike is most popular amongst BN members, we can now tell you that it is the trusty mountain bike Ð 54% of the members own one. The next most popular are road bikes (48% of members) and hybrids (33% of members). Around 15% own a touring bike, 9% own a tandem and 7% a recumbent.

Why do BN members ride their bikes??? For fi tness and health (71%), and for fun, social interaction, transport and environmental concerns. The results of the survey indicate that BN members do not ride when it is not fun, especially when it is raining! Other concerns raised included fear of traffi c, busy roads and uneducated drivers. Family and other commitments also prevent people from riding. To this end watch out for articles in BN publications about riding in adverse weather, where to access information on riding to work and using Link-Up, the new BN initiative to list commuting routes (often using quiet back routes) to help get you to your destination.

On which days do members prefer to ride? Sunday was a clear winner (50%) with any day and Saturday coming in at 37% and 36% respectively. Around 3% prefer a weekday or RDO day ride. Most of the respondents (80%) thought that BN is running enough rides in their preferred category although a signifi cant number would prefer to see more Easy and Easy Medium rides. This is an interesting result and the rides coordinators have made a note to include more Easy and Easy Medium rides, with a bias towards Sundays whenever possible. The current calendar is already set for October and November so if you prefer to do Easy rides on Sundays then look out for the rides calendar from December onwards.

While we are talking about rides, around 26% of the respondents indicated that they had considered or would be interested in being a ride leader. If you were one of those people please let us know. The more ride leaders we have the greater the variety of rides we can run each week. The rides protocols are available on our web site and the ride leader assessment pack is also available for you to have a look at. Another option is to have a chat with the ride leader of the next ride you go on. They will be more than happy to discuss with you how to get started.

It seems that we prefer to be out riding rather than attending meetings and picnics, with only 33% of the respondents having attended a BN picnic or meeting in the last 12 months. The Executive has made a note of this and will be reviewing the whole area of meetings and picnics over the next few months. We'll keep you updated about any changes through Chain Mail.

When it comes to advocacy work, 88% believe that BN is doing enough already. That still leaves 12% that think that we could be doing more, so over the next few months the Executive will be working on ways to increase our effectiveness in advocacy. The survey results also show that 90% of members are keen to help out by reporting cycling black spots or concerns about cycling facilities. It is planned to improve the web site and add some features that will allow members to easily report cycling hazards or issues to the relevant authority. Around 78% also indicated that they would attend a meeting in their local area to address cycling issues. The Executive will be working closely with the local area coordinators to set up some meetings to allow people to express their concerns or to raise issues.

What types of cycling facilities do members want? 82% indicated that they wanted more on road marked cycle lanes, 78% wanted on road grade separated cycle lanes, 66% said off road shared cycle paths and 61% off road bike only cycle paths.

82% of members want more education of motorists on the rights of cyclists, 80% want more driver awareness of cyclists and 70% want more education on the rights and responsibilities of cyclists. To help out in the area of cyclists' rights and responsibilities it is planned to produce a small booklet or set of cards on ride etiquette, making them available to new and existing members who would like to have them. If you think you could help out in putting this booklet together or have some experience in this area, please contact the Chain Mail editors or a member of the executive.

Around 72% of the membership make use of the BN web site with the most popular section being the rides calendar (62%). Some areas of the web site are not visited very much at all so the Executive will be working with the web administrators to revamp the site and make it more useful for everyone. The email lists are very popular with 76% of the respondents indicating that they are of value.

If the results of the survey are anything to go by, then the most popular thing that BN does is to produce this newsletter, Chain Mail. A whopping 98% responded ÒYesÓ to the question, ÒDo you read Chain Mail?Ó Our youngest respondent indicated that although too young to read Chain Mail the photos were looked at avidly.

The most popular section of Chain Mail is the rides calendar (read by 90% of readers) and the least popular section is advocacy (read by 82% of readers). These results indicate that the balance of Chain Mail is just about right so we will continue to produce Chain Mail in its current form (including photos) with maybe a little tweaking around the edges.

Thanks to all those who suggested ideas for future articles - the editors are working through them as you read. While we are on the subject of Chain Mail articles, 39% of you said that you would be interested in contributing to Chain Mail. Well now is your chance. Sit down, put pen to paper, and send in your submission to editor@bikenorth.org.au or by snail mail to PO Box 719, Gladesville, NSW 1675. The editors are always looking for new articles on a range of subjects and from different perspectives.

The Bike North Survey Team would like to thank all those members who took the time to fi ll in and return the survey forms. This article has not gone into great detail about the results but has concentrated on the more interesting points and what the Bike North Executive plans to do to action these results in the future.