Plymouth is the UK’s most cycle-friendly town, according to research by Virgin Money.
Norwich, Bristol, St Helens, Huddersfield and Glasgow also fared well in the survey, which was commissioned as part of the company’s sponsorship of next month’s Virgin Money Cyclone Festival of Cycling in Newcastle. It rated towns and cities on a range of criteria including bike thefts, accidents, serious injuries and deaths, the availability of cycle routes and bike repair shops.
Plymouth scored well for low number of thefts, as well as a low number of accidents and cyclists killed or seriously injured, while it ranked in the middle for the number of specialist cycle shops and 15th for cycle routes around the city.
Cambridge, despite its reputation as a cycling city, only just made the top 60, hampered by high incidence of cycle theft, serious injuries and a mid-ranking for bike shops and for cycle routes.
The City of London and Greater London also made the top 60, rated 50th and 56th respectively, with the high number of thefts, accidents and deaths the main reason for their ranking.
Virgin Money Cyclone organizer Peter Harrison said: “Everyone will have their own idea of what makes a town or city cycle friendly and the Virgin Money Cyclone research is an attempt to find which towns and cities are more cycle friendly than others and what the issues are. For those taking part in this year’s Virgin Money Cyclone I urge them to have a great time but equally importantly to be safe".
The top 60
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