Cycling celebrations in the Scottish sunshine

It's festival time in Edinburgh! No, not that one in August that only the tourists go to, but the Edinburgh Festival of Cycling - one of the UK's top cycling festivals!

Cycling UK has supported the Festival since its inception and has run a range of events over the last few years to pilot new ideas and activities in Scotland's top cycling city. This year is no different, with events to inspire, encourage and enable people to get riding.

The Edinburgh ABC project is running a number of open days to allow even more people to try cycling whatever their age or support need. As well as an opportunity to try the adapted bikes at our base at Bangholm Outdoor Centre, a series of led rides has been organised for anyone ready to venture further afield. We're also teaming up with Alzheimer Scotland to run a cycling memories session - it might be of particular interest to people with dementia, their friends and families, but it's open to everyone as part of the open day on Sunday 12 June. 

Cycling UK Scotland is supporting the launch of the Women's Cycle Forum Scotland during the Festival. The Women's Cycle Forum Scotland is new organisation that will promote equality and diversity by providing a platform for women’s voices to be heard in the cycling in Scotland. We also hope to develop the skills of women in cycling in Scotland as organisers, leaders, speakers or inspiring others as well as celebrating the role of women in cycling, in Scotland and elsewhere. We're delighted that we have two very different women, Jools Walker and Lee Craigie, to help us celebrate on Saturday 11 June. There are still tickets available so reserve your free.

Lee is also showcasing the writing talents of female cyclists by reading some excerpts from fellow Adventure Syndicate riders at our Women's Read, Ride and Write tour on Saturday afternoon. Local writer and creative writing tutor Helen Boden will be helping participants get creative themselves during the ride too - no experience is necessary and you don't need to book! 

The Edinburgh Festival of Cycling activities finish on 19 June with the Bike Curious Family workshop, a unique opportunity to try out family cycling equipment and talk to experienced families on bikes. As well as practical advice and opportunities to try, there will be some bike crafts, a Dr Bike, a skills course for youngsters and a taster 'Play on Pedals' session for anyone that wants to get from their balance bike onto pedals. Oh, and plenty of caffeine and cake too!

Since April, we've been supporting around 20 women to get cycling confidently with our Learn then Ride sessions - the last of this series finishes in June, but we're delighted to announce that we'll be able to run another series in the summer thanks to support from City of Edinburgh Council

All of our events are offered free to the public so that everyone can enjoy the gift of cycling; this wouldn't be possible without our fantastic funders: Transport Scotland, City of Edinburgh Council, the Big Lottery Awards for All and the Women's Fund for Scotland and of course our colleagues at Cycling UK Scotland and Bangholm Outdoor Centre. Thank you!

You can keep up to date with everything that Cycling UK does in Scotland on Facebook or Twitter @CyclingUKScot.