A Kirkcaldy-based cyclist will once more be urging cyclists across Fife to join him outside Holyrood to press for safer cycling.
Jim Drummond, a supporter of Pedal on Parliament, the grass-roots organisation which brought thousands of cyclists on to the streets of Edinburgh in April last year, has announced a second mass demonstration in support of the group’s call for safer cycling conditions in Scotland.
POP2 will start from the Meadows in Edinburgh at 3pm on Sunday and end at the parliament building, where politicians will be presented with an eight-point manifesto the organisers believe will help make Scotland’s towns, cities and villages fit for cyclists aged from eight to 80.
Through Twitter alone, the message of the POP2 Fife Feeder ride reached more than 40,000 people.
Organisers say it will be a light-hearted ride but with a serious purpose. The most recent road safety figures for Scotland show that the numbers of cyclists and pedestrians killed and seriously injured has risen.
Experts have warned that the numbers of pedestrians and cyclists killed or seriously injured on Scotland’s roads are set to exceed those in cars in a few years.
The Scottish Government has a target of 10% of all journeys to be taken by bike by 2020 yet despite some high-profile announcements of investment in cycling in the wake of the last Pedal on Parliament, it still spends barely 1% of the transport budget on cycling.
Pedal on Parliament is urging anyone who cycles in Scotland or who would like to cycle in Scotland but does not feel safe to do so to join take part in POP2 and maintain the pressure on the Scottish Government to put cycling at the heart of its transport policy.
People can take part on POP2 by joining the Fife Feeder ride. The ride will start at 11am at Kirkcaldy Prom Basin car park and the pace will be 10-12mph. The ride will be about 27 miles long, with cyclists scheduled to arrive at the Meadows at 2pm.