Love News

Get the latest news from Love Your Bike here. The campaign launched in March 2006 and will run until the summer. Make sure you return to this site for news updates.

The Love Your Bike campaign is led by Manchester Friends of the Earth with the support of Manchester City Council. For media enquiries, please contact: Graeme Sherriff at Manchester Friends of the Earth on 07905 790426 or e-mail graeme@manchesterfoe.org.uk.

This month

  • - join us for a ride into Manchester. More info

February 2008

  • This month, Critical Commute delivered a message for the consultation on the Local Development Plan, declaring that "CYCLING MATTERS".

November 2007

  • Sustrans won the vote for Connect2 in the Big Lottery Fund's: The People's £50 Million Lottery Giveaway. Connect2 will revitalise walking and cycling in 79 communities across the UK by creating new routes for the journeys we all make every day. Crossings and bridges will be created over busy roads, railway lines and rivers, linking into new networks of local paths to get you to where you want to go. Find out more: Sustrans Connect2
  • New book: 50 Worst Cycle Lanes in Britain (read reviews at Amazon). Written by Warrington Cycling Campaign, this book highlights how not to build cycling facilities. "Facilities featured include lanes 6 inches wide, 10 feet long, blocked by a phone box, ending in the middle of a busy junction, or just having a sign designed to decapitate unwary riders ... a must for all cyclists and road traffic engineers, and anyone who wants a laugh"

July 2007

  • This month, Critical Commute lent its support to the Clean Air Now campaign which is backing AGMA's plan to bid for government funding to improve transport in the region (see photo on their website).
  • New page Useful cycling maps in the Love Lanes section, offering maps for cyclist which can be downloaded from the internet.
  • New page Report problems in the Highlights/blackspots section, offering links to services where you can report problems affecting cyclists to the relevant council.

March 2007

December 2006

November 2006

  • Love Your Bike wins a second award! It won the BEST INTEGRATED CAMPAIGN at the Green Awards in London. Rubbing shoulders with other shortlisted candidates such as ITV, the Co-operative Bank, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer, Manchester Friends of the Earth was recognised for its advertising campaign which "creatively achieved its aims and objectives by leveraging a single idea across multiple media channels (e.g. advertising, direct marketing, digital media etc.) to illustrate some aspect of sustainability.
  • The November Critical Commute is on Friday 24th November 2006 at 8.15am starting in Withington. See the GMCC website for more details.

October 2006

  • Love Your Bike and the Greater Manchester Cycling Campaign launch the first in a series of Critical Commutes on the last Friday of the month. The first one is on Friday 27th October 2006 at 8.15am starting in Withington. The idea is for a large group of cyclists to travel into town together as a high visibility cycling presence, without aiming to obstruct other vehicles. See the Love Your Bike page and the GMCC website for more details.
  • Coming soon! We are planning a survey of facilities for cyclists (including parking) at rail and Metrolink stations with a view to publishing it with photos on this website. If you can help, contact us

September 2006

  • Highlights and blackspots: you can now mark the good and bad bits in Manchester for cyclists on the map directly, and see what other people have to say. Your contribution will be of interest to other cyclists, and we will pass on all information gathered to the councils of Greater Manchester.
  • Love Your Bike wins award - "Manchester Friends of the Earth's innovative, city-wide cycling campaign has won them this year's "Communicating Powerfully" Earthmovers award at this year's Friends of the Earth conference. Read more

June 2006

May 2006

March 2006

Press Images