A selection of photos from 4 weeks coaching and the Santa Cyclo Cross
For a month prior to West Lothian Clarion‘s annual Santa Cyclo-Cross race, the club had been coaching adults and youngsters in the fun off-road discipline that’s a great grass-roots way to get into racing.
The plan worked! The 2021 event broke records with more folk than ever before taking part in the fancy-dress event. Over 150 Santas, elves, Christmas puddings, unicorns and reindeers of all ages rode around the course in the grounds of Xcite in Linlithgow, with over £1000 raised in the sale of merchandise and refreshments.
The event and proved that the best way to get people cycling is to develop a community spirit around a cycling hub and provide fun sessions to coach and build confidence in folk who may not have cycled for some time.
The coaching and racing took place where the West Lothian Cycle Circuit is planned and is a great template to develop and build upon once the 1km traffic free facility is constructed.
The bicycle is a machine that fights climate change and furthermore, we believe our project will get more people cycling by providing a fun, safe traffic-free space to build confidence and develop skills.
Swinging a leg over a bike after a break from cycling can be an intimidating experience for folk who haven’t cycled since a child, or older people who want to get moving on two wheels. But our bicycle boosting space will be the ideal remedy for two wheeled nerves and help develop a cycling habit.
The community focus and cycling development ‘pathway’ at the core of the West Lothian Cycle Circuit will make it the ideal facility for young people to improve their ‘Bikability’ skills and for adults to return to the joys of riding a bicycle again.
Our goal is to get more folk cycling, boosting active travel in the area, and reducing our impact on our environment.
The Scottish Government and sportscotland, in conjunction with Scottish Cycling, have announced the first nine projects to receive investment from the £8 million Cycling Facilities Fund.
Projects from the Borders to the Highlands will share £1,554,633 to develop accessible, inclusive and inspiring facilities, which will be at the heart of our cycling communities.
We are delighted to receive an investment of £636,011 from the fund, which means we have have raised over £1.2m towards making this project a reality.
Fraser Falconer, Chair of Linlithgow Community Development Trust notes “The new facility being built will represent a tremendous achievement for our community, creating a wonderful place to nurture a love of cycling for people of all ages and inclusive for all. After years of hard work from local volunteers and supporters, the recognition by sportscotland and West Lothian Council gives great inspiration to us as we link the delivery of the cycle circuit to active travel, healthy living, social inclusion and improving health and well-being.”
Matthew Ball from West Lothian Clarion said “The circuit will be a game changing facility for people in West Lothian looking to gain confidence, ride their bikes and have fun in a safe traffic free environment. Securing this funding isn’t the finish line for the project, its the start line for amazing events, activities, coaching and day to day riding for thousand of people in the county. The Clarion would like to thank all partners and volunteers involved in the project who have worked together tirelessly over the last few years.
West Lothian’s biggest triathlon club has made a donation of £500 to the West Lothian Cycle Circuit.
The Linlithgow Community Development Trust is leading the ambitious project to build a 1km, traffic-free tarmac cycle circuit for everyone to enjoy. This project aims to provide an exciting range of supported cycling sessions for people of all ages and abilities from across West Lothian.
The circuit will be fenced and floodlit for all-year-round use and will provide a safe cycling environment for beginner to elite cyclists.
West Lothian Triathlon has a thriving junior section. From its launch in 2012 the aim of the club has been to encourage participation and fun for all its athletes.
Alan Dickie, Club President, said “West Lothian Triathlon is delighted to support this project as it is a great opportunity for our local club and the area further afield to learn and progress both cycling and running skills in a top class, safe environment. We look forward to using the facilities and hopefully hosting events here”.
Fraser Falconer of the Linlithgow Development Trust, said “We are very grateful to West Lothian Triathlon for supporting the project at this crucial stage; it’s great to get support from such a variety local sports clubs”.
West Lothian Triathlon’s donation sits along side 14 other clubs who have contributed to the campaign: Stirling Bike Club, Peebles Cycling Club, West Lothian Clarion Cycling Club, Falkirk Junior Bike Club, Falkirk Bicycle Club, Kinross Cycling Club, Livingston Cycling Club, Edinburgh RC, Deeside Thistle Cycling Club, Ythan Cycle Club, Dunfermline Cycling Club, National Clarion Cycling Club, Grampian Tigers Youth Cycling Club and North Cheshire Clarion Cycling Club.
Stirling Bike Club have donated £1000.00 to the fundraising campaign to build the West Lothian Cycle Circuit.
We’re incredibly grateful for this generous donation from one of Scotland’s largest clubs.
Stirling Bike Club has gained a reputation for being one of the friendliest and most active bike clubs in the country, with over 380 members.
Wallace Warriors are the junior section of Stirling Bike Club and helped pioneer youth coaching in Scotland. The Warriors are active in all cycling disciplines and have been awarded British Cycling Clubmark status. Clubmark is a cross-sport quality accreditation for clubs with junior sections.
Steve Moore, head coach at Wallace Warriors said “Having coached extensively at the recently built Fife Cycle Park and several dedicated cycle parks in England, it is clear that the progress of youths and adults in a safe, controlled environment can be quite spectacular. The professional, interesting and animated presentation that Matt Ball gave us at a recent committee meeting, confirmed to all that this was a venture that Stirling Bike Club and the Wallace Warriors had to support. The Cycle Circuit will benefit not only the cycling world but many other community sports and pastimes.”
Fraser Falconer, Chair of Linlithgow Community Development Trust said “We are so grateful to the cycling community for supporting our project, getting the backing of a large club like Stirling BC is a boost to our campaign to get the Cycle Circuit built. We look forward to members of the club riding the circuit when it is finished.”
Stirling Bike Club’s donation sits along side 13 other clubs who have contributed to the campaign: West Lothian Clarion Cycling Club, Falkirk Junior Bike Club, Falkirk Bicycle Club (Tom Anderson Fund), Kinross Cycling Club, Livingston Cycling Club, Edinburgh RC, Deeside Thistle Cycling Club, Ythan Cycle Club, Dunfermline Cycling Club, National Clarion Cycling Club, Grampian Tigers Youth Cycling Club, Peebles Cycling Club and North Cheshire Clarion Cycling Club.
West Lothian Cycle Circuit 