Cycling starts here! From the UCI Bike Region designation and major cycling events to new cycling infrastructure and trails for all, the opportunities of two-wheeled adventures in our region are endless.
Wonderful if there are any Tech problems and uh you can’t uh hear or see the me anymore please let me know and we will resolve it as quickly as possible but thank you all so much for joining us this morning uh do have anybody else in
The waiting room go or are we okay to get going no we’ll just get going we can add the others well welcome everybody thank you so much for joining our February Cy webinar with ssda and some actually fantastic speakers today uh what we want to talk about
Today is how fantastic the sou of Scott is for cycling but also to give all of our businesses in the region a better insight into H why cycling is a fantastic opportunity how to make the most of the market and how you can get ready to welcome more cyclists to your
Business so a quick overview Let’s uh talking about cycling today we’ll get into why cycling matters to the region the state of cycling in the region Go’s going to have a bit of a closer look at the cycling Market what businesses are already offering what um
What their tips are and then we’ve got three fantastic guest speakers today so welcome to Billy from The glol Hive Josh from Southwest Scotland psych training and LA from gree spes and then finally at the end we’re going to have a bit of discussion see what you’ve been able to
Take away from it uh some new ideas that you might have and also any questions that you want to ask the speakers and ourselves so let’s get started if you have any questions um as we go through any of the slides please feel free to pop them in the chat and
Then we’ll get to them at the end so why should we all care about cycling many of you might already know the south of Scotland offers unmissable experiences in every season and as we develop tourism in the region and visit economy we want to make sure that sustainable and active travel are really
Crucial parts of this year round offering we want to attract more people to come to the region but we also want to make sure that none of our fantastic Landscapes attractions and places get too overwhelmed uh with Travelers coming in and uh sustainable travel like cycling can be a really wonderful
Opportunity for that globally Adventure tourism which includes cycling is valued at $445 billion do a year and we also find that with a lot of research that’s been going on sustainable tourism that 61% of Travelers do want to travel more sustainably so coming into a destination and then looking at slow travel options
Looking at walk walking places cycling places making use of local public transport in Europe cycling is already a very popular uh part of Tourism there are 2.3 billion cycle tourism trips in Europe every year resulting in um an economic impact of 44 billion euros absolutely fantastic and attracting even
A small portion of Beast travelers to the south of Scotland could create an incredible economic impact in Great Britain 290,000 trips included adventure sports such as cying and they contributed 112 million pounds to the local economy overall in Scotland we have 1,643 miles of national cycle networks
And uh 90 million annual trips on this network and mountain biking itself contributed 105 million pound to the Scottish economy in 20 2015 and is projected to contribute 158 Million by 2025 so for businesses like I mentioned attracting even just 1% of EU markets could create 90 million pounds of
Economic benefit for the south of Scotland we also find that cyclists travel year round H it’s an activity that is need to reliant on the seasons um it also creates increased footfall to businesses both from local communities and from visitors uh it also helps with community building and the sense of place so
Businesses that welcome cyclists might find that a lot of their close neighbors uh towns nearby people will get on their bikes to pay you a visit on on a nice day um and it find it easier to reach you than having to take the car finding
A space to park um and all of that and of course there are health and wellbeing benefits associated with it then over the past year we have been part with the local councils suss visit Scotland and many key Partners to develop the regional cycling strategy the regional cycling strategy
Uh sees the ssda and its Partners um taking a key role in um looking at how cing can help us with six key themes destination development and promotion events infrastructure sustainable economy and communities Sports Recreation and wellbeing and also Innovation and Technology the main goal is to make cycling inclusive inclusive and
Accessible transport options for everyone living working and visiting region in terms of destination development and promotion the role of ssda is to utilize growth opportunities for the visitor economy that cycling can bring that is through a variety of items so for events we’re looking to attract and support a year round calendar of
Events last year we had the absolutely massive UCI World Championships but we also have all of the local events around cing like Dre love over in people we’ve got radar SC Galloway and um quite a few local smaller events as well in terms of infrastructure we’re also looking to support the strengthening of
The recycling Hub status that we achieved at the end of last year so we’re now officially a UCI designated bike region and of course we want to see your us businesses in new product development and diversifying to attract this new market if you haven’t had a read of strategy yet I would definitely
Encourage you to do that we’ll send out the link after our webinar today now what do we already offer to cyclist in the southwest Scot what’s the state of play we actually have quite a lot on offer already so there are nine areas uh in relation to sighting that I
Wanted to give you a quick introduction to so at the moment we offer opportunities for mountain biking Road cycling gravel biking events we’ve got cycle friendly communities longdistance routs active travel rots to suit every ability of course the national cycle Network and we already have fantastic tour providers in the region as well
Starting out with mountain biking you might already know about the seven stain sites that we have five of IND trees in Galloway two in the Scottish borders but we also have really great independent Trail centers and networks around J Landry Castle estate over Galloway here and C forest and cabon forest with
Famous Trail set around the Tweet Valley and of course the Tweet Valley Trail Association that independently looks after and develop drops quite a few Trails as well so wherever you’re based in the south of Scotland you might actually find that some of these mountain biking centers are not too far
Away from you and that people staying with you or visiting you um might be planning to stop there as well and have a day out on their bikes in terms of Road cycling we’ve got fantastic amenities for that throughout the region South ofon is already known for quiet roads uh feedback that we’ve
Had from Road cyclists is is that you’re never far from towns and local amenities we have sign posted routs throughout the area a combination of climes and used to see different abilities uh we have a variety of riding events and established cycling clubs and networks gravel biking itself is fast
Growing popularity and we finding that it’s a very high spending demographic that really enjoys um enjoys taking part in this the Galloway Forest Park like areas around glol are already really popular choices for this activity between Valley whether you’re starting at cardrona or riding all the way to Cel
Uh also has some recommended Roots already and the Seven Up and way is also a popular choice for gra cyclists in terms of events in the region we’ve got a whole lot I couldn’t even fit them all on this slide so please forgive me if I’ve missed out on
One that happens in your area we’ve got the Euro World Series we’ve got um delb rock and wheels for mountain biking we have mck and Mack and the grof that I’ve already mentioned for gravel biking for Road cycling we’ve for many years had the two borders um the crossb school
Teeth Tweed love attracts cyclists of all ages and abilities and we’ve also welcomed major events like the tour of Brit so and all of these events come back year after year because we already have so many locals and also visitors coming in to enjoy this offering we’re also really lucky to have
A number of cycling friendly communities starting off with newcastleton who are already well established as a bike Friendly Village they have a bike friendly bunk house many of their businesses well come side plac they also have S stains you pass B um and just provide really good inform for everyone
Stopping by Gate House of Fleet is now home to Major sing events that the grof and radar scravel and the local community have really adopted this and get involved in the running of these events every year of course in and peoples are already really popular in the mountain biking community and for
Cyclists generally but it’s also the site of the new mountain biking Development Center that’s being supported by soed so we will see this growing year and again and of course we should also give a shout out to which has the oldest Cycling Club in Scotland and many many
Towns that have really fantastic cycling clubs right across the beach in terms of the long distance routs you might already be familiar with the pic that you see over in the borders we also have the Border Loop the bord aby’s way we have the southern Upland Way that’s now also being used by
Cyclists Romans and reverse rout and a number of rots that are passing through the region like the co that is taking quite a few visitors over to Kelo and the radar that start upan to in terms of active travel routs um those are really fantastically being developed right at the moment last we
Saw the opening of The ellon Path we’ve got the rest and Railway link and we’ve got a new active travel Route Around Thorn Hill and these are really suitable for all ages so really introducing families and younger kids to to cycling in the region as well without having to
Worry um too much about some of the busier roads we also have really popular multi access route such as the Tweed Valley Railway path W AB way which I’ve already mentioned and the spron raway route and over 100 Cycle routs already listed on Scotland Starts Here for a
Variety of abilities that we always recommend people check out for the national cycle networks we’ve got 1,643 miles across Scotland but four of the Roots the srin Roots 17 73 and 753 actually pass through the south of Scotland and there are options to link up with roots um both in Asia in the
Loans and also in the north of England to attract cyclists who are outside the region to come into the region travel through and link up with some of our existing routs we also have absolutely fantastic extensive local expertise and knowledge we have a variety of tour guides and training opportunities available um I
Believe we all even have some of them on the webinar today so from go Weare to Trail skills to Galloway cycling holidays and brid lines um we’ve already seen a lot of them collaborate with local accommodation providers and businesses giving recommendations and just offering support for businesses to develop their own
Expertise we’ve also had seen Community hubs expanding bike hire bike Focus cafas accommodation providers and and of course businesses acting as information points so as I mentioned wherever you are based with your business in the south of Scotland you might find that there are cycling opportunities quite close more easy opportunities to attract
And Link in with the existing offering and now we’ve got down to a closer look at how businesses already attract thanks Vanessa um I’m I’m I’m looking at some of the names that are on the webinar today there’s a lot of very experienced cyclist there are people are
Already involved in cycling but this uh which is great but we were also wanted to give people who are perhaps not so familiar with the cycling Market the cycling uh Community a little bit of an overview um sorry I’m trying to control say Vanessa can you move it on sorry I thought I
So even just how to spot a cyclist that that well that’s the old joke how do you tell somebody’s a road cyclist they’ll tell you each area of cycling has its own drug jokes about that but those timelines unusual calf shaved legs in the men that’s always a good giveaway
Because they want extra speed so always with a an expensive watch recording every move that they make sticky gel packets and they love cake which is really great for our cafes and communities there’s no point going cyc unless you’re eating cake I’m afraid to say so where are the cyclists really within that
Market so location for us is key um we have a huge potential with the central belt of Scotland but also um from sort of darbishire up also people coming into the area those are people coming on day visits they’re perhaps coming on a specific cycling holiday so those
Already popular roots and which we will hope will what the Kur Patrick Coast to Coast will be one of those um quite often those are guided or they have luggage transfer and other bits of infrastructure around how you get back to your your car or your accommodation
So those are areas that we’re really Keen to talk to people about development uh there are existing luggage transfer for walking but there’s not really that infrastructure for cycling because sometimes it may involve carrying a pike as well so if anybody’s got any knowledge on that or any key
Potentially looking to develop that we’re we’re really ke to talk to you hear from you cycling holiday H holidays cycling should I say sorry so people who are already here and they might want to do a bit of cycling as a part of that holiday it’s not the main driver but
There are a lot of those and that’s families um perhaps people deciding that with E Bike higher in the region that it’s something that they’ll take up again they maybe haven’t cycled for many years but ebikes give so many people so many diff New Opportunities and of
Course locals there’s lots and lots of great recycling clubs um we have some speaker here today from one of them and they like to explore they don’t always want to ride the same road so they might be coming over to you so don’t dismiss that local market is really important as
Well age bracket everybody hopefully Cycles uh that’s it’s Vanessa touched on it’s more environmentally friendly it’s health and well-being mental health is really important however the majority of that market is that sort of 40 to 49 that market is going to come to us for holidays they’ve got time they’ve got
Disposable cash so that’s the sort of age bracket you’re marketing at there’s a lot of drop off after uh children learn to ride that’s the second biggest Market but then it drops off us we all get busy and you find a car Etc um but yes so getting healthier that’s another
Reason for people taking up perhaps uh they’ve the children are a bit grow more grown and they want to get back out in the fresh air and also they’re learning to cycle with the children so that family Market again is is a really key one different levels of
Abilities um so there’s those people that want to feel completely safe they don’t feel confident in traffic so there’s that safe off-road facility we have some great cycle networks however they are a lot of them on uh roads that are open to traffic um so we have an
More and more development around cycle specific or or shared space Trails which is great um familyfriendly again those those really safe off-road uh options whether that’s Forest track or a a designated cycle way there’s the more adventurists that perhaps want to explore the the mountain bikers the
Gravel bikers and the road cyclists that want to do that bit more distance or they’ve heard about the terrific ride up from bonchester over to hoik that sort of uh they want the tick tick in the Box they want it on straa which is a recording device if you’re not uh
Familiar with straa because if it’s not in straa it hasn’t happen for a lot of Road cyclists and then there’s the multi-day which is again a market we’re really looking to expand on with the launch of the CT Patrick Coast to Coast but also the other routs that Vanessa has
Mentioned in the area and again that comes back to that infrastructure of having luggage transfer um and lots of different things that businesses can do to accommodate which we’ll get on to time um cycling takes time or you want to take the time to go cycling so there
Are different life challenges with that so if you’ve got young family you maybe haven’t got the same availability or or you you’re going cycling with your family so the time is uh very precious and so it can be shorter Loops so you’re coming back to your your say your destination and where
You set off and it’s safe for younger Riders as well there are the sports uh side of things so people want to compete and there’s lots of triathlons that happen in the area lots of cycling sportifs so they are a really key holiday Market because if we encourage
Them to come for these events to compete but also to stay for a few days either side would be great there’s the challenge um that obviously is a big chunk of time and that’s where that that older age group comes in because they do have a bit more um time Rich potentially
And if they’re going to ride for a couple of days or even a week or so um that’s the sort of Market there and then there’s the relaxation so people would just like to get out in the fresh air on their bike and appreciate the countryside uh last one Seasons uh Liz
Rightly mentioned briefly in our our previous meeting on our winter seasonal landing page there’s no midgy of cycling and cycling is year round uh especially for the road cyclist winter miles summer Smiles uh there’s the Hardy off-roaders the mountain bikers who are out in all weathers and then there is the really
Fair weather cyclist which I’ve turned into a bit of one so they don’t come out unless it’s above 10° and there’s no headwind and it’s a bit Sunny so you’re looking at that summer and uh spring autumn period and then there’s the post day as we used to call them they’re out
In all weathers always in shorts whether it’s Subzero or boiling hot so you’ve got a really really wide range is what this slide is trying to demonstrate of potential visitors guests that you can attract so if you you can decide which sort of Market you’re going for is it
Are more General cycling so there’s lots and lots of different opportunities and there’s different places you can look for those visitors and guest in Market too as well so we’ve pulled together a couple of case studies um as with the events we haven’t covered everybody there are lots
More out these there these are just ones that we’re we’re very aware of um so the first one is actually from outside the Reon region which is Rosie back and D she actually she does come down here quite a lot um you know transparency she’s a friend
Of mine and that’s how you know I’ve come to highlighter in this case study so she started bike packing back in 2016 and she uh with another friend of mine rode from Edinburgh to Manchester which is the second City divide route gravel biking INF festive fancy dress with fairy lights for Christmas because
That’s what you do um but it was fantastic and she they were absolutely Blown Away by the borders and they they camped just near Hermitage Castle which they found quite atmospheric I think um they’ve slept in cowsheds and all sorts but yeah she’s she’s done some fantastic work from that that sort of
Experience she’s built a business she’s been named one of the top 100 women in cycling she’s a guide she’s a cycle trainer and she works a lot with the Adaptive Riders Collective to highlight the adventure is for everybody and Paul the chap that runs that he is a
Recumbent bike user he’s a wheelchair user and they go on all sorts of crazy Mad adventures all over the country side she also runs A S selfcatering as well there um but she says on our website She’s Not destination focused it’s about taking your time and living in the
Moment so her top tips are secure bike storage and cleaning facilities this is what she looks for when she’s going to places um local knowledge of the best cycle friendly cafes and bike shops so you can beef up your own knowledge easy to follow routes that’s a a good one and
If nobody knows what GPX files are we can include that in a toolkit we can we can tell you about that basically an electronic file without cyclist follow our Walkers Simple Solutions local knowledge is key get to know that where the quiet picnic spots are or sheltered
Routs so you can guide your guests or your visitors to those you don’t need a massive encyclopedic knowledge of them if you just know a couple it just helps enhance that experience and people know that you care a little bit a local history but I think we’re all very good
At that we’re all very proud of our region we know what’s going on around there so that’s good so what has resulted from her experience she now does bike packing tours and guided trips she um runs gravel rides and gravel events um and she regularly has women only events and holidays which
She takes out which are very popular and she also as I say she works with the Adaptive Collective and they go on all ability adventures and they’ve just done a little film on it up in the highlands where they were um staying at bothies so yeah that’s just an example
From someone else that works in the region but also goes uh she’s based up in perire one locally uh the ship in Gate House of Fleet for those of you who don’t W know it’s a beautiful little hotel up in Gate House Boutique Hotel um and they cater for a really wide range
Of guests from cyclist Walkers dog walkers you know they they Embrace everybody um so they have really pulled the stops out to elevate the customers of experience there for cyclist so they’ve just upgraded to a really um new large secure bike storage which is fantastic um and they work with other
Local businesses as Vanessa mentioned Gate House Fleet is a cycling Hub um there’s a lot of work going on there um development wise there’s the the events that are coming in but even just locally for the community so they’ve got this community social Enterprise wheels of Fleet so it’s a repair and maintenance
Service and they ensure all the bikes guests are maintained and repaired and you can book in with them so it’s just a nice easy upgrade for them as a business um adding value doesn’t have to cost such as the example there they promote lots of local opportunities what events
Are going on guided rides and they collaborate as much as possible um Simple Solutions they’ve got a drying room for Kit um it doesn’t need to be Specialists it can be just somewhere that’s a bit warm uh so your guests are dry when they go out the next
Day a bike wash again doesn’t need to be very fancy it can just be a bucket and a sponge but just having something there secure lockups are whoever really key um people spend a lot of money on their bikes and some of them are very emotionally attached to them so they
Want to know that they’re safe of of an evening or during the day and pack lunches for Riders so if they’re going out for the day they can order those in advance results happy customers that’s what we all want they have and crucially repeat business and yearround occupancy
Which is fantastic from just some really simple changes uh hike and bike Hub George is on the call today waves um so I sent this for last things first things morning so hopefully it’s all up to date George will please do uh interject if I’ve not got anything entirely right so
Angel and George started the hike and bike Hub and Gala uh 2022 to promote active travel healthy leisure activities and they make their services on a pay what you can basis so it is a social Enterprise with an emphasis uh this the social side of it is um autism awareness
They offer information about it’s a it’s a great information Hub it’s not just a shop and a bike repair they’ve got lots and lots of booklets about walks and rides um local health events that are going on and they lead Health walks as well which are really popular ebike hire
They’ve got you’ve got couple of adaptive bikes I believe and yeah just generally a warm chat warm welcome in a chat for anybody who wants to pop in uh including dogs quite often go in myself with the doggy likes going in for a fuss uh and they now also organize and run
The gala Shields walking Festival in Spring and Autumn which is a very welcome addition to the town so yeah shout about your product and engage with the community that’s something that hike and bike Hub has done really really well and if you’re not sure how to support diversity and Workforce talk to
Organizations like hike and bike there are so many opportunities out there for everybody start small test products see what works if it doesn’t move on to the next thing it doesn’t have to be a huge investment of cost then embrace all the community simple adaptions can enable more people to experience the outdoors
And that’s the outdoors really should be accessible to everybody so results adaptive cycle hire guided rides and walks and pay what you can services and another accommodation this is a borders based one this time for anybody that doesn’t know it the tontine sits in Peebles um I did actually put
That I said Tweed Valley but it’s it is based in pebles it’s on the High Street it’s right in the heart of pebles uh it’s very famous hotel if you’re interested about the history but go on to the website they’ve got some fantastic information about how it’s
Built the hotel team are all really well briefed on cycling and routs again they don’t have an encyclopedic knowledge but they do know some really great places that you can go locally and some of the lowlevel easy access rides as well they collaborate with the local bike hire
Shop so if guests turn up who perhaps hadn’t planned on cycling they have that knowledge and they can point guess in the direction of that cycle hire as they say customer service satisfaction is at the core of everything we do we take great pride in Pride in providing warm
Hospitality and locally sourc produce so they’re talking a bit about their food there as well because long hard day cycling who doesn’t like a good feed at the end of it know your Market collaboration again you’ll notice the theme all of these it’s all about collaboration and great product
Knowledge Simple Solutions again they have a secure bike storage bike drying room and they have bike washes again these are sort of three really key things um and they also have maintenance racks for bikes it’s just it’s quite a simple piece of Kit in fact you can buy
Um versions on at Aldi they quite often have them in their big cycling events that’s another top tip of your uh business trying to accommodate cyclist and you want to get a few bits and pieces Aldi is great keep an eye out for the cycling events uh the results reputation for
Quality High customer service and great Community engagement the community really uh pays back by they use the hotel themselves which is key especially in the quieter months so froy Bike Company uh Fantastic Cafe in Dum where I’m going for coffee tomorrow um right on the White Sands in
The heart of dumre so Ross uh is a Dun Hammer originally and he left and went and did some fantastic stuff around the world became a mechanic for some of the the top teams um and also fell in love with coffee working in France for a long
Time so he’s brought that back to dumre uh he’s passionate about the region and his bikes and his coffee so you’re in for a treat if you go to the the frothy bike also he’s works with loads of great local supplier so really good food offering so the shop is a destination
It’s not just somewhere to go and get your bike service or to buy buy a bike or it’s you know it’s a whole experience so yeah he’s very good at sharing his passion and telling the story uh collaborates again with lots of local supplier and tries to upgrade by adding
Value to everyone’s experience you can design your own breakfast when you go in so you can have porridge with whatever topping so it’s just little things like that he’s done that are really good um customize where you can that’s that feeds into that the bikes and the food
Side of things telling his story well and great products that people love he’s obviously worked very high up the industry so he knows the great robust products Customer Loyalty bringing life back to a town center and supporting other local business is really really key especially in an area like dumre
Where well like a lot of towns um has got quieter but it’s starting to come back to life so he’s doing a great job there and last but not least estd Mir Hub and Cafe for those who don’t know s mure it’s right up above langum they are
Quite a remote Community but they are a passionate community and it’s well worth a visit up there it’s beautiful scenery they have the samil Ling Monastery on their doorstep as well the Hub was the primary school the community have uh turned it around since 2004 it’s now a really really busy community space
They’ve got great plans to expand they’re looking at accommodation they’re looking at lots and lots of different things and they want they do hold some events but they want to host more cycling events um because they’re in such a spectacular part of the world uh they’ve upgraded the bike sheds again
Offering Secure Storage but also really good brilliant is ebike charging because you’re way out in remote Wilds you don’t want to to run out of charge so they’ve thought of that and they’ve put these really simple Chargers in so you can have a coffee and a chat and warm up a
Little bit and then charge your ebike and you’re off again which is great um so yeah lots of plans to expand watch this space again they’re very good at telling their their story they’re off the main route but they’re they’re now with a uh Inception of the Hub they’re
Absol not isolated it is a destination for people and they’re very good at planning ahead and knowing what markets they’re going to Target a warm welcome goes a long way definitely certainly up there um very very welcoming Community get to know the area so again they’ve gone out they’ve
Learned about the roots they they’ve they’ve scoped some new Roots out and they they’ve produced some little booklets there um the nature and the Heritage obviously they have got absolutely tons of that up there so it’s they they passionate about telling the story of what people can see when
They’re out and about in their bike which all adds to the experience uh they’re a growing business and they have great plans to keep growing um and they they bring prosperity to the community um so it’s not just to themselves it’s a shared wealth and they are again supporting
Other local businesses which is great thank you so much go um so hopefully you’ve already now have a bit of an insight into what the south of Scotland offers and why the cycling Market is such an important important want for for us to grow but nothing better than
Hearing it from some of the people on the ground so we’re really excited to have guest speakers with us today so first one up we have Billy from The Glen Hive thank you so much for joining us today and I’ll hand over to you hi everyone um so yeah I’ll just
Give you a quick sort of a very brief history of Glen trolberg R and Community Trust um and their Community Enterprise Project B Glen tril Hive um so in 20 the local Authority decided to close glenil Primary School um Central to the Village um and community of about 60 people um
Basically due to lack of pupil numbers um The Glenn trillenberg running Community Trust secured a Community Asset transfer for one pound and uh for a number of years operated this building as a community center hosting workshops special interest groups youth groups um and we had also had an art gallery in craft
Shop um in 2019 after extensive fundraising efforts they were able to progress to the second stage of their project with um a full renovation of the building um and reopened in the summer of 2022 um with the installation of myself as project manager we have since then worked tirelessly to promote and
Facilitate the many natural assets that exist in our corner of the Galloway Forest um obviously one of the most important offerings that we have here is the Glen Trail 7 stains mountain bike trails um it features uh a green and blue graded Trails um and is also the
Starting point for the 36 mile off-road Trail uh into the Gallow Forest itself um called the Big Country Loop um in addition we’re also on Route uh of the national cycle Route 7 as part of the ctoc trail um so given our unique location um and they already established
Cycling opportunity surrounding us we’ve set ourselves a task this year of reinforcing our position as the primary tourist facility in our area um of the Galloway Forest Park um so last year um in line with that last year uh we launched our first annual Glen troll Hive bike Festival um
Working with students um at DG College to create our branding and logo for the festival we hosted a two-day event um collaborating with local cycle-based organizations and small businesses to promote the provision of facilities um for visiting cyclist um those included were um Paul Osborne from the biking
Explorers and Barry from biosphere bikes but both of them are sort of More Southern aure based um not too far over the Border though um Janet who runs glenil Cycle Works within the village which is incredibly handy um Esther Tac from Galloway Southern airshire biosphere and Tom Henry from the
Southern Upland Way joined us as well and um Gavin mcallum from the Galloway Hill bil they all participated and contributed to the weekend um as this was as that was our our first year um rather than sort of taking on the liability and responsibility of of mapping and steing the cycle routes
Throughout the forest we opted to encourage the use simply of the nearby Glen tril s stains uh Mountain bike trails um so with the approval and cooperation of forest tril and Scotland um we were able to offer bikes for hire which um and from biosphere bikes kindly
Donated a couple of electric bikes as well um we were able to offer the bikes for hire um and and simply just provided maps of the Trails um with the aim that we would um promote what what we feel is a drastically under promoted network of
Trails in our area um so we hosted during that weekend as well with posted a large group you can see the picture there a large group of tourists um in collaboration with uh biking explorers um and biosphere bikes um they’ created a bespoke cycle route throughout the
Galloway forest and up to LR and Bruce’s Stone and um there were actually a group of Americans that were staying at um I think it’s kin Castle um nearby so they they were here for sort of the historical and cultural aspects that we could offer and um Paul took
Them on a as I say bespoke little tour around around all the points that were relevant um and of course returning to our facility for much needed cake is going the point is out um we’re again planning our festival for this summer um we’re yet to nail down some dates we’re
We’re um checking in with with all the other sort of special interest groups they do also run a lot of um events through the summer so we don’t really want to clash with them we want to encourage and promote um sort of spaced out events um we’re reducing the event
Down to a one- Day Festival this year um but again hopefully working with for and Scotland to promote their seven STS Trails um and and that’s including Glen Trill and kry because they can both be be linked um through the trails through the forest um we will be encouraging of
All local cyclist based businesses um to participate and help us grow the visibility as Glen trol is a key stop for cycling um we have a number of um small small businesses bike mainly bike repair and bike shops within the area and we’re we’re more than happy to
To facilitate um space for them to to come and promote their business as well we offer um a free page on our website for for any local cycl business in the area um so we’re we’re really Keen to to work together with everyone to basically to benefit everyone um in addition to
That we’re we’re also planning to increase our offering here at the hive um so as G says with with new secure bike storage um we we currently only have space next to our self catering accommodation which can hold about three bikes but we’re looking to get something
A bit bigger that can host about 12 um a repair and wash station um drying facilities and dedicated interpretation boards and information points close by um so this year hopefully our aim is um to incorporate cycling in in the area into the the larger picture of tourist provision um whilst indeed there are
Dedicated cyclists who seek to stay in the area to explore everything bike related that we have to offer in this area um we want to encourage the wider family unit to visit so discover um the brilliant sort of local restaurants the the walks and the hikes and the area
Even discovering something new like wild swimming or Forest bathing or even wild foraging um and of course the Dark Skies um so essentially we’re we’re trying to create um a yearround destination that everyone can benefit from him and we’re really encouraging of other local businesses joining up with us creating
Some links um as I say advertising on our own website as well to to help promote um everyone in the area um we are all very very much spaced out um in our location but I think if if we pull together and host a few um events like
The bike Festival um we can really sort of showcase the area and everything that there is to to offer thank you so much really I think it’s absolutely fantastic to see that one we’ve got great new event addition to the area that really celebrates the whole community and so many different organizations coming
Together and it also does back to what go was talking about in terms of how important collaboration is in reaching the cycling Market it’s Community coming together it’s organizations like the biosphere the councils ourselves supporting where we can and we’re absolutely Keen to do that um and to
Also see how wonderfully the event has been embraced so I look forward to seeing uh the plans for this year and hopefully um you know you’re going to grow over the next three years to attract many many more visitors thank you so much our next guest speaker is Josh who also
Runs Southwest Scotland cycle training thank you so much for joining us today Josh um Josh is also known for being the first person to uh cycle the Patrick C Toc setting the fastest known time um Josh um please feel free to share your screen share your presentation with us
Hopefully um everyone uh can hear me uh and you can see my screen okay someone please shout at me if not um yeah so I’m Josh thank you very much for for having me here today um I I live in dumre and I run um Southwest Scotland cycle training
Um and I’m an independent business but I get contracted by uh a lot of cycling Charities so people like cycling UK sust strands cycling Scotland to run training courses individuals and groups the idea being trying to encourage anyone anywhere to cycle more as part of their day-to-day life so the sorts of courses
I offer might be an individual who lacks a bit of confidence maybe on road and want want some sessions to help them them feel more empowered to do that or maybe um a course to train people to take groups out on lead rides with cycle ride leader course that sort of thing
And I’m also very passionate about Road Safety so I do a lot of work with drivers and learner drivers around responsibilities around sharing space with um more vulnerable Road users so um the start of my presentation here I’ve actually got a few bits of slides talking about why ride in D&G gwan I
Think covered this really comprehensively um so I’m not going to not going to repeat what the the words that she had but I I think this is perhaps something that does add a little bit of um a really nice visual image about why cycling in dumre and Galloway particularly from
Road cycling perspective is so appealing to people this is just an image from Google Maps you can see the uh you see dump frees in the bottom right hand corner there every blue line on this map is road now pretty much unless it’s one of the you know a75 a76
A710 nearly all of these roads particularly in this kind of anything east of dumre basically is beautiful to ride really quiet very low traffic stunning scenery now the next slide this is basically the whole of the north of Scotland moving from you know kind of north of of iness basically and what we
Have yeah beautiful roads up there but there’s not very many of them and this route encompasses a very famous driving and cycling route the North Coast 500 which actually is very busy with traffic so my experiences of riding in in that part of Scotland although beautiful you’re sharing that space a lot with
With other Road users maybe large uh Camper vans things like that which isn’t the most Pleasant cycling experience for a lot of people and particularly when we know that one of the big barriers for people cycling more dayto day is around a fear of sharing space with traffic
When we look at our road Network that we have this massive Road Network that’s very quiet that’s one of the huge huge selling points of done for Rec and gway particularly if you compare it again with other places like the Lake District where you’re competing with huge volumes
Of tourist traffic on on often very small roads um again uh what Gowan mentioned about the importance of of the UCI event coming and I don’t know if any of you actually watched the TV coverage of the events that were happening from from Galloway but it looked fantastic it
Looked like such a great region to come to so hopefully that’s going to have have an impact on on people coming to to enjoy the region so the rest of my presentation um I’ve spoken about how a lot of the work I do is around breaking down barriers to people feeling they can
Cycle more DayDay um but what I’ve also done um is a lot of work with businesses and a lot of consultation around how they can kind of be more cycling friendly so I’ve not got enough time to go hugely in depth into all of these
Points but I’ll kind of do a bit of a Whistle Stop tour and if anyone’s got any questions following today’s presentation please do just just get in touch uh I’ll leave my phone number an email I’m very happy to have a chat in more depth about some of these ideas so
From an accommodation perspective how do we appeal to people on bikes so it was already mentioned by uh one of the case studies that we saw earlier but really simple where do we store a bike um it needs to be somewhere secure not just you know somewhere they can lock a bike
Up to but it needs to actually be something secure we know our region is really low crime particularly in some of our more more urb more rural areas but just someone who’s visiting from you know uh Manchester Glasgow London do they feel quite the same way about
Leaving a bike perhaps somewhere not as secure as they would where where they live so we need to provide that secure covered accommodate uh uh uh storage for people’s bikes again it was that mentioned that ability to maybe clean a bike um appreciate that that might not
Be possible but then a backup per that could be maybe just even simple things like providing um some lubricating oil and some old rag so that people can wipe down and clean their chain not necessarily having to kind of wash the whole bike down but they can do Basics like
That um provision of a pump if someone gets a puncture they’re likely to want to be able to pump their tire back up properly using a larger kind of track pump so they can cost you know 10 pounds and could be really handy for you to have as well
Um most Riders won’t be who are doing long tours won’t be carrying substantial locks with them as well so again that ties into the uh storage for their bikes as well where it has to be secure it’s too heavy to carry a big proper Insurance standard lock a lot of time for
People um what about washing and drying of clothes when I’ve done cycle touring if I arrive somewhere and someone offers to to to wash and dry your clothes usually at a cost which is is fine um I often take that up because you don’t know you know you’re in the same kit a
Lot of the time you end up smelling a little bit and chance to chance to get your clothes washed as a and offering really really useful and again hit drying if nothing else that would be really helpful you know wet shoes things like that um from your own perspective um as
An accommodation provider you might be concerned about um dirty items you know if people are carrying paner bags with them uh where are they going to put them in the room are they going to get the room all messy and dirty on the carpet simple provision of a little like rubber
Mat for people to put those things on gives you them that piece of mind um some of what I’ve just mentioned there assumes that maybe people are touring through the region passing through doing one of the longer distance cycling routes like the co Patrick Coast Coast but another type of tourist might
Wish to use you as an base um and stay with you for a few days so they may want advice on root planning um nice places to go again that was touched on before in in one of the case studies that Gowan Gowan mentioned maybe your guests aren’t
Sure about some of the roads is this an okay one to ride how busy is that so for you having that local knowledge is really helpful in giving that advice especially if they’re International tourists as well um one of the main things it’s very easy to be able to give
Advice on the small number of roads to avoid in dumre and Galloway the rest is a big open goal if you don’t cycle yourself then there’s lots of of businesses myself being one of them who will offer support and advice and guidance in helping you with with root
Planning for your guests um this here is a picture of um a root map of some cycle tours available from in lethan this is from the uh the borders Council website each of the towns in the borders has their own uh map very similar to this with suggested Roots it’s fantastic um
This is something you could maybe look to do from your own um accommodation um or your own premises doesn’t have to be as snazzy as this a printed map these could just be online routs that you create that sit on the website again very easy to do of free root planning
Software and if that’s something you want help with again I’m sure there a range of businesses again I’m happy to do this with you to help you suggest roots for your guests um okay um something that you might look to do as well um that I know some businesses
Quite like to do is offering rides from the accommodation maybe tying up with a local tour provider um again there several of them in the borders several of them that have been mentioned in in dumre and Galloway who maybe you could do a partnership with that offering those guests again particularly if
They’re new to the region actually a guided tour maybe tying into that local history tapping into the best cafes all those sorts of things that really enhance that experience um if that was something you’re wanting to do yourself you could train as a cycle ride leader um that’s
Uh something those courses run regularly through cycling Scotland and again gives you the ability to then offer that and enhance your own offering for for people who are riding bikes something to consider again if we’re thinking about this green tourism which is super super important for
Myself and we know that a lot more tourists are considering um that that green impact is how are they traveling to you maybe they don’t want to drive to you to then use as a base so having that knowledge about how to get to you we’re
Quite lucky in in dumre and Galloway and in the borders that most of the trains I know there very limited to train services but most of them don’t don’t in fact all of them don’t require a bikee booking to get your bike on the train which is quite unusual some of the uh
More popular tourism destinations in Scotland it can be quite difficult to get your bike there with bookings and things like that dumre and Galloway and the borders really pretty straightforward but what about for example if we’re an accommodation provider not based near strand ra train station or D free train station how do
People get in between there is a bus option the 500 bus will take bikes but depends on the bus you if it’s a coach bus they’ll take a bike but they might not take a bike if they’re a low loader so having this knowledge knowing about
How to link up with um with uh active travel or um those those uh public transport options is really useful maybe something you could offer is collecting people from a transport Hub tying in with a a local um transport provider to get people to your destination if they don’t want to travel
To the region by car uh um okay what about food so again being mentioned um that cyclists love their food they often have big big days this is a place I love to go on my bike in the region mossburn Community Farm is one of their pigs
Enjoying their food um a very healthy food actually um but yeah cyclists do love food um and as an accommodation provider depending on where you are if they’ve traveled to you by bike and aren’t there bik with a car how can they then go out for an evening meal so I
Stayed recently at a fantastic really cycl friendly bed and breakfast in North Yorkshire that was about 8 miles from the nearest town and they have an offering that you can book evening meals to eat with them they’ll cook for you at Cost obviously they’ll they’ll they
Charge for that uh but it’s a great offering for for cycle tourists if that’s something you’re able and happy to do another thing that you might want to consider is you know storing some flapjack in your freezer some browny things like that that are delicious easy
To cook uh can be made to suit most dietary requirements and they can just live in your freezer and if people want them you that’s a something you can offer for to to take out with them as a snack for the day and again no reason you can’t charge those if you
Want what about cafes so we’ve already talked again about cafes becoming maybe a destination point for people on bikes uh cycling UK run a competition for cycling Cafe of the year so there’s a cafe or kind of restaurant I suppose how do we appeal to to people on bikes uh
People on bikes are good customers because it’s quick turnarounds for people uh often people come in they don’t stay for too long take up too much table time and then they’re off again regular visitors often have set routines um maybe a quite early morning visitors
At times when you’re not that busy so a great way great kind of regular customers to have uh there’s a big cultural link between uh between cafes and and Sun something that you can do to be more cycle is providing locks having free locks in your Cafe for people on
Bikes to use this has a benefit that people feel they can stop particularly if there isn’t somewhere obvious out the front that they can leave their bike to keep an eye on stops leaning the bike against your windows or paintwork and also it can be a way of you asking
People to leave their bikes where that maybe isn’t blocking a pavement and causing access accessibility issue for other other pavement users lots and lots of cafes I’ve seen around the country do this just use a combination lock so that people don’t lose the key combination’s easy to remember um
And that that’s a really great way for people particularly if if maybe it’s a cafe without an open shop from window if you don’t have um cycle parking facilities obviously at the front of your Cafe um then maybe that could be a conversation with your Council there are funding applications
You can apply for with various uh different grants that you can apply for to tap into to put those Provisions in place um classic cycling stands they’re not very expensive and relatively easy to um Cath CA can become as we mentioned real destination places for people to go
To there’s a cafe in Glasgow that I go to regularly if I’m there that I know a lot of people cyle to they go out their way on a cycle Journey riding through not particularly Pleasant bit of cycling to get to it but because they’re so cycl friendly it becomes a destination point
To go to um and they’ve expanded then to tap into that by producing their own cycl merchandise caps jerseys all sorts of different things socks um and produced kind promotional videos about as well um so you can become a real destination point for another example this happened in
North umberland with a farm that I used to go to I used to live in the northeast of England and a chap who had inherited a farm he set up a little cafe Diversified his his farming business just in an out building set up a cafe and that became very popular with
Cyclists and just grew arms and legs it became a destination place he then hired out the barn next door to be a yoga studio for the nearby town to come and use everyone that did the yoga then came into the cafe a bike mechanic then set
Up in the next ouse along from him um and it just grew arms and legs and has become this this this thing that’s sustainable through cycling other things we can do is creating a welcoming atmosphere for people coming on bikes so things like um uh offering to fill water bottles
When people arrive having a pump maybe for people to access um maybe you can run a cycling Challenge from your Cafe um or a treasure hunt for families treasure hunts really I do a lot of these for different organizations developing these where it’s based on what’s local often tapping into local
History great way of encouraging families to come and visit your Cafe um and again you have challenges there’s are some cafes I know that set kind of root challenges for people to do do the root and get a free coffee at the end things like that so really imaginative
That you can do toal and again again it’s not just appealing to that that kind of uh let’s go fast demographic you’re wanting to appeal to as wider audience as possible particularly that Family Market or maybe people who who don’t class themselves as a cyclist they
Just I’m going on a bike ride today I’m not a cyclist I’m just going on a bike ride today where where’s welcome for me again something you can offer as a as a business is cycle training for your staff um again thinking about that green impact maybe wanting to encourage
Healthy Lifestyles to staff reducing carbon emissions through workplace Journeys um this is something that cycling Scotland offer is a range of different cycle confidence training sessions for staff for workplaces and that’s something you do get ties into that being ay place um I’ve offered uh learn to ride
Sessions for children tying in with CAF before uh either next to a cafe or in part of their premises and that’s’ very popular finally uh as a tourist attraction how do we appeal to so one thing I’m coming across more and more is a green discount so travel here by bike
And get money off your entry so good examples I can think of this are the rspb the wetlands trust down at cavok I came across it at the um Royal Horticultural Society in Manchester again a way of encouraging people to travel to us in in a green way and
Rewarding that providing locks people passing through region particularly on a kind of a to B longdistance route might not be aware of some of the cool things that they’re going to go past and might really want to come visit this Distillery this Castle this Lighthouse whatever it might be but can’t because
They’ve not brought a heavy duty lock so again providing those enables people to actually go oh cool we can stop here brilliant um and again um something you may consider depending on the business is maybe providing uh driver training that driver awareness around vulnerable Road using that makes your business
Appear um cycl friendly as well um I think that is everything from me my contact details are on the end there if anyone would like them I’ll type them into the chat as well in case anyone doesn’t manage to scroll these down in time um but yeah if anyone wants
To get in touch with me I’m always always very happy to to chat by email or by phone thank you fabulous thank you so much Josh I think some really great points and also just getting that Insight that there are some easy steps of dipping your toes into the cycling Market opportunities
For diversifying your business and um actually a very good item that you mentioned that I just wanted to highlight as well is there is still funding available from SOI at the moment it’s the um cycling infrastructure fund so businesses looking to upgrade their offering and the infrastructure they
Have for cyclings that could be secure bikes or it could be um quite a multitude of things um definitely check that out we will include that in the Roundup of the webinar um there is um guidelines on the soy website as well so if as a business you’re thinking about
Upgrading some of your facilities that might be worth a look now we’re coming to our next guest speaker and thank you so much for making time today it’s Laura from Kelo bre rites so another popular cycling Hub this time we’re over in the borders um I
Will stop Shing my screen and I will let Laura take over thank so much hi so thank you um so I’m Laura and I’m based in Scottish borders I am a breeze ride leader through Scottish cycling which is an initiative that is launched through British cycling and
Scottish cycling to get more women on bikes there are loads of us around the country um I’m the area coordinator for Southeast Scotland and first could apologize if my dog starts barking because he’s just come running in um and we basically get women out on the bikes
I recognize a couple of names there that are uh ride leaders too and have trained in cycle coaching With Me George is um from the Hub in um Gala his wife Angela as well she is one of our ride leaders um so she leads rides from the gala side
Of it um in the Scottish borders we’ve got seven branches of Breeze which is pretty amazing and there’s lots of rides that we do and we’re actually looking at um we’re bringing an event in at the beginning of June to get all the areas um it’s I think it’s we’re naming it the
Big borders bike bash and getting all the areas of Breeze rides within the borders to to lead rides and then meet in the middle the next day just to get people getting to know each other there’s a system called the let’s ride where anybody that wants to go on a bike
Ride these are generally women only rides although there are guided rides which are LED pretty similar by male or women in uh ride leaders and you can just put your post cod in see if there’s a ride available in the area staying and sign up and go pedaling they are for all
Abilities all ages um there’s no there’s no thing stopping you really it’s it’s just it’s a great initiative to get you out pedaling we find in the borders that a lot of um businesses are cycling such a massive thing you know you’ve touched on the the tour of
Britain um board all these events the UCI they’ve all come through Kelo a lot of them um we’ve even got we’ve got the Kelo 100 you’ve got the the four abies which are pretty famous roots that people come and they do the Kurt Patrick way there was a breeze um traveling
Teddy bear that rode it last year uh it started and it took a little while to do because obviously bringing it in so there’s lots and lots of promotions to get women on the bikes and just encourage them um yeah and there’s also like there’s the midsummer Bree sport
Which is a women only sport Eve so it’s just great to have all these opportunities and Link in with with different types of cycling throughout region really um yeah fastic and I see uh there was a message in the chat just now from Gallow fantastic to see the
Connectivity and the connections and the enthusiasm so Liz and I um back oh probably 10 years ago we actually did our uh bike coaching our cycle to I can’t remember what it’s called now but we are both um cycle coaches uh we trained a long time ago
Together oh my word that’s so true hi it is hello long time no see yeah there we go and we came Brown to Breeze yeah cool yeah excellent thank you so much Laura so I think it’s really really visible how fantastic the South really is for cycling we already have communities
Excited about cycling we have the locals really involved and really embedded in it and there is a lot of planning going on right now to make cycling um really a key key item for the destination so a really really big thank you um to all of
Our speakers to Laura to Billy to Josh and what we would actually like to do now is to have a bit of discussion with everybody um and to look at what you are taking away from the webinar today if you’ve had any ideas new contacts people
You want to reach out to and you know same for you Billy Laura and Josh please feel free to to share your impressions from today there was a little bit of uh chat going on during some of the presentations which is great about uh where to find cycle routes and yeah
Denise who is from scbs Council they have uh the roots that Josh mentioned so those root booklets you can download them they are available in hard copy they’re also available on the Scotland Starts Here website because the council very kindly shared all the those root files with with us so yeah they’re a
Fantastic resource and there’s there’s some similar roote maps uh with dumes Galloway Council as well which are also on our our website I think the takeway for myself is really the collaboration that is already going on in the south of Scotland it’s fantastic to see from you Billy from yourself especially with the
Event planning everything that’s happening um but I was also wondering Laura perhaps you want to shout out some of the other businesses in and around Kel that have been that you’ve been involved with oh gosh yes I mean there are loads um the the biggest is as
Everybody says is the coffee stops so there is a one on roxor street called Seasons uh it’s a small one but they they keep as well as obviously the cycle shops so in Melrose you’ve got Hardy bikes they Supply to make sure that the coffee shop has plenty inner tubes
Plenty um they’ve got a track pump everything available for you uh it’s great you’ve got Cafe you up the road as well they’re all everybody is just great inter cycling um there’s a massive Network called the visit kelil and all the links are on there um and we work in
With um Denise through the in fact I actually need to ask her for some more maps because they were they were saying We’ve ran out um since we’ve recently relaunched um everything uh so it’s it’s just yeah lots of great support I mean people I say the four abies is is the
Iconic one that people come to and in the center and the coffee shops are just amazing amazing wonderful to hear I think we’re going to have to make a long list of the best uh Cafe spots for cyclists to to stop by when when they travel to the south of Scotland and then
We’ll we’ll consult with Laura Josh and Billy for for input on that wonderful and we’ve got mark on the call from dumre tours he’s a cyclist he knows a good a few good cafes he’s a cafe man as well so you can tap him as
Well one I think there might be a really good idea also to share the the details of the um of the attend of some of the attendees um from today who have mentioned that they are cyclists themselves just to give people a bit of an opportunity to connect further and to
See if maybe there is an opportunity there to collaborate whether that is on some guided rides on some upskilling or on getting some more uh tips and ideas for what to what to stock in their business how to prepare themselves for welcoming cyclists oh yeah I can see some comments coming
In from Ian as well there’s a new community Hub in closeburn in development and it’s fantastic they will definitely take away some of the ideas um hoping to have ebikes for rent and a small shop and Cafe love to hear that um one of the community hubs um in the
Scottish borders in Stow they have bikes for higher now as well so really fantastic to see so many so many Community hubs Community Enterprises getting involved in the cycling Market um can also see from yes from Elizabeth in terms of mapping software really happy to send around some information one of the
Mapping softwares we have used to create GPX files was um Google Earth actually which is free to access if anybody would like to unmute themselves and ask any questions directly for our speakers please feel free to do that as well