Jon Barron

Public given opportunity to comment at the start of additional active travel planning for A944 corridor

Nestrans, working with Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council and Sustrans have commissioned a study to explore options for upgrading the active travel route on the A944 between Westhill and Kingswells. The study is being progressed in line with national, regional and local policy objectives to increase levels of active travel and reduce private car journeys.

People can take part in the Placecheck at https://placecheck.info/maps/aberdeen.

Gathering views from the public is an essential element of the study and we are keen for you to provide comments via this Placecheck tool. The tool gives you the opportunity to detail what you like about the route, what you don’t like and what you would like to see improved to enhance active travel opportunities between Westhill and Kingswells.

Comments offered on the Placecheck tool may be used in the final reporting for this project. While all comments and contributors are publicly visible on the Placecheck tool, names of contributors will not be used in final reports. This tool will be available until Friday 14 February 2020.

Media Release from Aberdeen City Council: https://news.aberdeencity.gov.uk/public-given-opportunity-to-comment-at-the-start-of-additional-active-travel-planning-for-a944-corridor/

The start / finish point will be the ‘Window to the Sea’ monument at the Bridge of Don end of Aberdeen Beach Front and we will be leaving at 8am sharp on Thursday 4th June.

There is plenty room for your friends / family to park a car if they’re dropping you off / picking you up. This is your chance to see some of the most amazing scenery around Scotland’s north east while achieving the most epic bikepacking adventure you’ve ever had.

Staying in any of the NE250’s locally owned accommodation options of your choice, you’ll ride around the NE250 route on gravel or by road as you desire and meet the rest of the party by the fire at the end of each day for a dram / beer / wine / Vimto for story sharing.

GCP will provide full route details for both Gravel and Road route options as well as suggested start times and target speeds so you can make the best of your experience at your own pace.

A wee disclaimer:

This event IS NOT:
A race
A fully supported event

This event IS:
A chance to try out bikepacking without camping (unless you really want to camp!)
A chance to experience the North East by bike (especially the parts you haven’t
A chance to ride with friends
A chance to see some amazing sunsets
A chance to meet other cyclists from the area

Possible routes, for road bikes, have been reproduced below. More, including those for off-road/gravel, will be added in the coming weeks and months. To help keep informed on the event, and some ideas that others have had, there is a ‘Discussion’ on our Facebook Event page; https://www.facebook.com/events/2574624732824580/?active_tab=discussion. Alternatively, drop us a message at info@grampiancyclepartnership.org and we will do our best to get back to you as soon as is reasonably practicable.

Day 1 Road

Day 2 Road

Day 3 Road

Day 4 Road

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As mentioned previously, we’ve been working with the good folks at North East 250 to help showcase the fantastic routes and breathtaking scenery that can be experienced on our doorstep by bike (as well as the many opportunities that exist for cake stops!).

Thanks for all the suggestions on tweaks to the initial draft routes that we circulated recently. The amended versions will be posted here once completed and we await the results of our day’s filming with baited breath.

While committee members have been excitedly planning our own preparations to experience this for ourselves, we were simply blown away at the weekend by the efforts of an intrepid duo from Culter, namely Donald Munro and Mike McLuckie….

On Saturday 7th, just before 4am, they set off from Pocra Quay. Later that night (yes, you read that correctly!) they got home to their families having cycled for 230 miles, during which time they climbed over 12,300 feet, each using in excess of 12,500 calories, with a moving time of under 15 hours.

As if all this isn’t impressive enough, they were both unhappy as having battled severe headwinds and the cold, they had to cut their day short and miss out Cairn O’Mount due to fading light. Rest assured, they’ve got unfinished business, and will definitely be back.

Donald and Mike have kindly allowed us to share their blog of the day’s events. While doing all this in a day is not for everyone (No way, not me! – Admin) the blog is a fascinating description of what was clearly a really tough yet fantastic experience, and one which could be 2, 3 or however many days you’d like to take.

Well done again guys, massive kudos to you both!

Thanks again for letting us share this.

NE250(ish) in a Day Blog!

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Around seventy local cyclists attended an interesting and informative event at Robert Gordon University, Garthdee, Aberdeen yesterday evening (Monday 2^nd September).

The event, which was called ‘Cycling in the North East – Collisions, Compensation & Civil Law’ was jointly organised by Cycle Law Scotland and Grampian Cycle Partnership in an effort to help provide advice and information for those interested in cycling across the north east.

Admission to the event was free and included presentations from representatives of both organisations and an open question-and-answer session where attendees were afforded the opportunity to seek further information and clarity on cycling-related issues.

The Cycle Law Scotland presentation, delivered jointly by Aberdeen based specialist solicitor, Roz Boynton and Cycle Law Scotland partner, Jodi Gordon included an explanation of Criminal v Civil Law, a synopsis of common cycling incidents, an overview of the primary causes of cycling collisions, what you should do in the event of a collision and a whole host of other aspects surrounding the subsequent processes.

Roz Boynton added, “It was encouraging to see such a large turnout of NE cyclists all eager to learn and understand how to better protect themselves out there on the roads. We hope they won’t need our specialist personal injury services, but we are always here to provide advice and support if needed.”

The Grampian Cycle Partnership presentation, delivered by Caroline Hood, Vice Chair of the recently constituted voluntary organisation, contained an overview of why the group has formed and details of the initial aims and objectives as well as a summary of the initial priorities they are currently working on.

Caroline Hood added, ““We hope that by engaging with our partners and prospective partners through valuable events such as these that we can raise awareness of the benefits of cycling and continue to develop strong, collaborative relationships with individuals, businesses and organisations to make cycling safer and easier for everyone in the North East.”

Cycle Law Scotland deal with personal injury claims for injured cyclists across Scotland every day.  They provide cyclists with unrivalled, specialist, personal representation with accident claims.  Cycle Law Scotland believe that, if you’ve been involved in a cycling accident in Scotland through no fault of your own, it’s important to seek expert legal advice as soon as possible, preferably from a lawyer who specialises in personal injury cases and has considerable experience in representing cyclists.  The Cycle Law Scotland team all ride bikes, they believe that only by cycling to and from work or for recreation can they truly understand the needs and requirements of their cycling clients.

Grampian Cycle Partnership focuses on the benefits that cycling contributes and represents and partners with anyone, individuals and organisations and hope to help make cycling safer and easier for everyone in the North East of Scotland by using cycling to improve both the environment and the health for those who live here, securing the best possible outcomes from all available funding and resources and helping make the area a better place to live, work in and visit, and travel safer for vulnerable road users, irrespective of their mode of travel.

Grampian Cycle Partnership has been asked by the http://www.northeast250.com/ team to suggest a circular cycling route (or routes) that best epitomises the natural beauty of the landscape that can be visited in NE Scotland and provide a challenge to cycle tourists.

The GCP team has developed a 250-mile perimeter road cycle route than can be tackled in two to three days (or however long you fancy!) giving both coastal and mountain aspects passing through the majestic countryside of Grampian/NE Scotland.

Using the safest and quietest roads the route takes in beaches, historic castles, lovely fishing villages, even a famous phonebox, spectacular views, some challenging climbs and offers fantastic wildlife viewing opportunities.

We have tried, where possible, to keep away from main car routes.

GCP are now publicly sharing our vision of a tourism-inspired cycle route (both for locals looking to experience different challenges close to home and for those from further afield) to bring cyclists from all over the world to our natural wonderland, with routes that can be enjoyed by riders of all abilities. This route is a physical challenge which will give cyclists of all abilities a tremendous sense of accomplishment when they complete it.

With North East 250 we aim to promote this route as the first of many tourist routes for our area. Other options will concentrate on shorter cycle rides around the countryside taking in towns, villages and tourist attractions within the 250-perimeter route.

The route can be viewed on these two links and downloaded to your favourite navigation device.

NE250 Route Coastal Section 

https://www.plotaroute.com/route/836578

NE250 Route Mountain Section

https://www.plotaroute.com/route/878904

We will post routes on Strava in due course (remember to join our Strava club if you haven’t already done so!).

Please note that we are also developing an off-road, gravel route.

NE250 Gravel / Off-Road 
https://www.strava.com/routes/13933732

*We have already shared these routes with our partners and members but would appreciate and welcome views from the wider cycling community on all the routes included in this message*

Further routes within the perimeter are in development by the GCP tourism project team. If you are interested in helping out with our tourism projects, or any of the others, please get in touch.

Comments, favourable or otherwise, and suggestions along with offers of help in creating the ‘best in class’ route options should be sent to us at info@grampiancyclepartnership.org.