My local bike path leads almost directly from my path straight to work. That’s about 8 miles of pure luck I reckon. I get to cycle to work along a beautiful sea front, avoid traffic, get some air in my lungs and generally arrive in a great frame of mind every day.
All good, but of course it hasn’t got anything to do with luck. Sustrans, the charity that provides routes for sustainable methods of transport, is the reason I get to cycle to work and don’t have to compete with cars for tarmac space.
About two weeks ago I started noticing more and more glass on the path, to the point where for about twenty metres I simply did not feel safe cycling. Brown, green and clear splatters where what looked like the contents of a bottle bank had been emptied onto the path were making me increasingly angry.
In hindsight, I should have taken along a cheap plastic broom and gone to work myself.
Instead I bitched to my local cycling officer. Fed up of having to put up with it and particularly angry because my girlfriend (a relative newcomer to cycling) uses the path daily too. Another puncture would just wind me up, but was pretty likely to stop her daily commute altogether.
My irritating, temperamental hissy fit of a letter fell on kindly ears. Our local cycling guru didn’t respond in kind. In fact he was downright polite and helpful.
Amongst other things he mentioned that the route is frequently patrolled by Sutrans volunteers.
Within two days the glass was gone. He’d copied our local Sustrans office in on my diva email and they’d duly reported it to the volunteers who kept an eye on the path.
I’ve got nothing but admiration for Sustrans and the people that volunteer for them. The glass will come back but I know that the people who spend their own time keeping it in a rideable condition will too.
I’m signing up as a Sustrans volunteer. It’s time I stopped taking my awesome ride for granted.
Ten years after Sustrans Volunteer Ranger program started, the bike paths are getting longer and more widespread. Do you cycle to work on a bike path? Don’t take it for granted!
Get in touch with your local Sustrans office and see how you can help!
