Thousands of cyclists to bike through Edinburgh
Thousands of cyclists are set to take to the street of Edinburgh this weekend, to urge politicians to improve infrastructure
Thousands of cyclists are heading to the streets of Edinburgh this weekend.
The 10th annual 'Pedal on Parliament' event will take place on Saturday starting on Chambers Street and finishing outside the Scottish Parliament.
Cyclists are looking to see better and safer cycling infrastructure across Scotland.
The event gets underway at 1pm and will see the group travel along George IV Bridge, along High Street, Market Street and then New Street and finally down Canongate towards Holyrood.
This will mean disruption to motorists with restrictions whilst the cycle is ongoing.
Chris Russell is one of the organisers of POP, he told Radio Forth News:
"We want to send the message to politicians that we want Scotland to be a country where anyone can cycle it doesn't matter how experienced they are, how old they are, that it should be an easy and realistic option for most people to get around."
Mr Russell tells us he believes there are more people than ever in Scotland looking to cycle, with many looking to cut down on their carbon footprint.
But many of them feel intimidated, or unsafe, cycling on busy roads alongside cars, lorries and buses.
He said:
"So we're basically asking the politicians to design cycling for all ages and abilities into our roads.
"So that could mean segregated lanes that are away from motor traffic, as we're starting to see in some parts of big cities, it can mean safer speeds, especially where people live and work and play.
"I think definitely a growing demand. And I think a lot of it is about climate change as well. You know, one of our slogans is this machine fights climate change.
"And we really see that cycling has been a very simple answer a simple part of the answer to a very big problem.
"And I think there's a lot of people who who want to get on their bikes, and they just don't feel safe enough doing it."