Ebike Centres | Electric Bike Shop | Leicester, East Midlands UK

Ebike Centres | Electric Bike Shop | Leicester, East Midlands UK

0116 254 0888 | info@ebike-centres.co.uk

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The future for cycling in Leicester

National Bike Week is in full swing, and in Leicester cyclists are making the most out of the fantastic new cycle lane system in our City of Champions. Cycling is a great way to get around our city. It’s healthy and environmentally friendly. Of course, cycling requires physical effort, but an electric bicycle takes the strain, allowing you to enjoy your commute with next to no effort if you wish.

With ebikes only costing 0.3p per mile to run, owning one is good for your wallet compared with cars and public transport. It can be a little scary at first to cycle in a city but Leicester’s cycle lanes help you to avoid traffic, and as long as you take care, you can ride safely along with thousands of other cycle commuters and recreational bikers. National Bike Week is the perfect time to take the plunge and try a new approach to travelling.

Leicester’s profile has seen a dramatic breakthrough in recent years with the reinternment of King Richard III and, of course, Leicester City Football Club topping the Premier League. There is a wave of positivity sweeping the city. Continued improvements to the roads for cyclists with the Connecting Leicester Project have created new and improved lanes.

The first stage of the cycle track along St Nicholas Circle and Peacock Lane was completed last year. Cycling-friendly refurbishments of Greyfriars, St Martins and Hotel Street were completed by July. In September, city councillor Adam Clarke received the Best Cycling Infrastructure Cycle Planning Award for the Leicester Cycle City Action Plan. The Places for People street improvement project for Braunstone Gate was initiated in partnership with Sustrans and The People’s Health Trust. An announcement was also made in December that New College had submitted a bid to British Cycling to construct a new traffic-free cycle track with the support of the City Council. This year, Leicester hosted the Active City Conference 2016 at our very own Curve theatre, where more than 700 delegates from across Europe gathered to discuss the future of active living.

We are a city engineered to suit cyclists and not only because of our cycle lanes. Our bike park in the Town Hall Square offers secure indoor parking for bikes in the city centre. There are also showers and changing facilities there, as well as options for repairs and cycle hire. Secure parking is also available in a bike park underneath Leicester railway station. There are spaces for 222 bikes, as well as male and female changing rooms, CCTV, air conditioning and a secure key fob entry system. There is also a departures screen so cyclists can keep track of their train.

So what does the future hold for cyclists in Leicester? Leicester City Council is aiming for cycling to be the choice of one in ten people travelling in the city centre. It aims to double daily cycling numbers by 2018 and then again by 2024. The council wants to build quality cycle tracks alongside all main roads with plans for a strategic cycling infrastructure as well as addressing missing links in the cycling lanes, pinch-points and safer cycling in neighbourhoods. It aims to ensure that people from all backgrounds and abilities can cycle by extending the reach of cycle and mechanical training. There are also plans to introduce workplace, residential and city centre cycle parking options to reduce cycle theft.

If all goes to plan, our cycle system should be akin to those of Copenhagen and Bristol in a couple of years. Right now, there are an estimated 13,000-plus daily cyclists in Leicester, with a ten per cent increase each year. It really is the perfect time to switch that petrol pumping car for an eco-friendly ebike.
Are you missing the perfect ebike for your commute? Check out our website and see how ebikes can help you save money and time on an everyday basis: https://ebike-centres.co.uk/