Bike Breakfast and the Bicycle Bonus

My experience this morning at the Bike Breakfast in Norwich seems to provide remedies for the shortcomings I discussed in my last posting "Time to Reinvent the Wheel". First and foremost it was pleasant to see so many bike enthusiasts and passers-by come forward to register their interests in the Bicycle Bonus Scheme and other services on offer.

The most exotic and fun part of it for me was of course the novel three wheel ride. Apart from being so colourful and attractive, it has a very comfortable passenger seat, has a top cover that protects you from rain, and is very stable when you decide to stop. As I was being given a ride around Chapel Field Gardens, I suddenly become the centre of attraction. The breeze is so relaxing, and believe it I went for a second ride as soon as I could.


Even after that, I could not resist the temptation to take the driver's seat. I couldn't go very far though as the operator was concerned about insurance.


This Bike Breakfast event is part of the Bicycle Bonus Scheme being organised by the Energy Saving Trust and the Norfolk County Council. The idea is to encourage businesses like cafes, pubs, and shops to offer discount to individuals who sign up to the scheme and vow to travel by bike as much as they can. The individuals that sign up get a specially made wrist band which they can present to participating shops to benefit from the discounts. The ideas looks attractive as there were a constant flow of people coming to put down their signatures and ask any other questions of interest.


And of course, as it was called Bike Breakfast, all those who signed up could help themselves to the breakfast table with a wide range of fruit, cakes and drinks on offer. Breakfast is well deserved for people coming to an event that begins at 7.00 am!


There were two free services that most of the people who cycled to the event were very happy to benefit from. The first one was that a police rep was on hand to mark bicycles and register the owners so that if a stolen bicycle is recovered, the owner can easily be identified.


The second free service which was Dr Bike was hugely in demand with so many bikes in the queue. All the cyclist could get their bikes checked and serviced. This is just for the day though.


My conclusion from the event is that there is no shortage of what you can do with a bike these days. Those who wanted to stand much taller than others were also present, so was the ambulance who can visit their patients on bike in a very sustainable way and sometimes quicker bypassing the traffic jam during rush hours and accidents.




I wonder if there are any other barriers left...