Camcycle to host Cargo Carnival in Cambridge

Camcycle will celebrate the power of the cargo bike when its Cargo Carnival returns on Saturday (September 21).

A group of cyclists will meet at 11am on Lammas Land before setting off on a circuit of city centre at 11.30am. You don’t need a cargo bike to join in, any bike will do. Dressing up is encouraged, with one participant last year famously dressing her cargo bike as a bathtub.

The parade will end back at Lammas Land around 12.30pm where a cargo bike fair will begin.

There will be lots of different businesses there, which use cargo bikes every day, advertising their services, offering their goods and selling food and drinks.

There will also be a prize-giving presentation with Tees Law for the winners of Camcycle’s cycling treasure hunt, CamcycleQuest.

Outspoken Cycles will have an enclosed try-out area on Lammas Land with a range of cargo bikes.

Rob Turner, the Outspoken Shop manager, said: “This will be a fantastic event for families and business people to talk about and ride cargo bikes, with a huge range to compare.”

The Cargo Carnival will be a fun event for people of all ages.

Roxanne De Beaux, Camcycle’s executive director, said: “On the weekend of World Car Free Day we’re highlighting just how versatile cycling can be as a true replacement for many car journeys.

“The traders at our Cargo Carnival are leading the way and every year we see more businesses and families taking to cargo bikes as an efficient and cost-effective option.

“It will be a joyous celebration of pedal power but also a vision for a future with clean air, safe roads and vibrant local communities.”

Business owner, James Thorne, uses a cargo cycle for his business, Thorne Wines.

He said: “We use a pedal-assist electric bike from Reiss and Muller. We tried a lot of cargo bikes. We wanted something that would give us the flexibility to use for business, but also for life – taking our daughter to nursery. We didn’t initially plan to use a cargo bike for the business, but deliveries were taking up too much business time and there was also the cost of fuel and insurance. In Cambridge, with the way the traffic has become, it was an absolute no-brainer.”

Social enterprise Overstream Clean, whose parent charity is Wintercomfort, offers training and work-based learning to people who are homeless or vulnerably housed by providing a cleaning service to clients across Cambridge.

It uses cargo bikes to maximise the amount of clients it can help and as a result, the number of people they can offer opportunities to. It will be part of Saturday’s carnival.

Dominic Bowles, business manager, said: “The bikes form a really important of part of us being able to give opportunities to people. If we didn’t have the bikes, there is work that we could do but it would definitely reduce the amount we would be able to do for some clients and therefore reduce the range of opportunities.”

He added: “The cargo bikes allow us to carry all our kit with us, so it means our guys can get around the city, quickly and easily given Cambridge’s traffic problems. A bike is a better way to travel around.”

Visit overstreamclean.co.uk.