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Prince of Wales STARTs Sustainability Tour
Posted: 7th Sept 2010 | Source: British Cycling
Cycling was high on the royal agenda as the Prince of Wales embarked on his tour of Britain in Glasgow yesterday to promote his sustainable living initiative START, supported by British Cycling.
His Royal Highness was joined by a group of cyclists, including British Cycling's Peter Haymes, Rapha Condor Sharp's Dean Downing and Matt Cronshaw, Marks and Spencer's Marketing Director Steve Sharp and B&Q's director of Corporate Responsibility Nick Folland.
Prince Charles was shown a folding commuter bike and tried it for size before setting off for Edinburgh on his bio-fueled Royal Train. The cyclists who met the Prince also set off for the city covering the 50 mile distance at a more leisurely pace.
Peter Haymes said: "The Prince of Wales was clearly quite impressed with the folding bike and even tried it for size. Collapsible bikes are great for commuters as they can be easily folded away and taken on trains and buses.
"We hope that the Prince's support for cycling as a means of sustainable transport will help us encourage more people to ride to work. The message from today is that we can all START living more sustainably by making little changes in our lives such as cycling to work."
Rapha's Dean Downing said: "We met Prince Charles before the start of the ride and he asked us all about the bikes and the team. It was really inspiring to meet him but even with his kind words of encouragement we weren't able to make much headway into the really strong headwind and the train beat us on the day. Still, a great experience for us."
There was also a fun lunchtime led-ride for Glasgow's city centre workers yesterday and British Cycling will be hosting a free healthy breakfast for cyclists on the Royal Tour's visit to Manchester on Wednesday (8 September) and Birmingham on Thursday (9 September).
BMX World Champion Shanaze Reade will join the Prince at Clarence House in London on 10 September to show her support for the role of cycling in a more sustainable lifestyle.
British Cycling is running a new Workplaces Employer Programme aimed at helping businesses adopt cycling in the workplace, start work-based clubs and reduce congestion and carbon footprint. To find out more about the programme, please contact lovecycling@britishcycling.org.uk.
Related:
Putting Cycling at the Heart of START
