Cumbria County Councillors and the Bicycle Mayor of Cumbria have test ridden a brand-new cargo bike in and around the streets of Kendal.

The South Lakes Action for Climate Change towards transition (SLACCtt) group is loaning out the new cargo bike for local people, using the initiative ‘Woolly Saddle Cargo Bike Project’.

Cargo bikes are adapted electric bikes, which can carry an abundance of items, and in some designs, people. They can have two or three wheels, they can have big boxes at the front or back, and some even look like miniature vans. For the Kendal trial, the Woolly Saddle Cargo Bike Project will be using an E-cargo bike that will happily allow riders to shift loads uphill of up to 80kg with a charge lasting 30-40 miles.

Richard Ingham, Bicycle Mayor of Cumbria, met with Cllr Peter Thornton the Deputy Leader of Cumbria County Council and Cllr Neil Hughes to test ride the cargo bike and to see how the bike coped with the Kendal traffic and cycle infrastructure.

Cllr Keith Little, Cumbria County Council’s Cabinet member for Highways and Transport, said:

“I am delighted that my colleagues were able to take a closer look at the cargo bike and see it in action along some of the cycling infrastructure that is already in place in the town. 

“A Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) for Kendal, was published in July, and we want to encourage more people to take up walking and cycling within local towns, for shorter journeys. The cargo bike will certainly be useful for boosting health and wellbeing it is an innovative way to tackle climate change and is a new way to think about delivering goods too”.

Alan Lovett, Trustee for SLACCtt, said:

“This has been a fantastic project; we have been carrying out some trial collection and deliveries for the Waste into Wellbeing project by delivering crop share pick-ups for Growing Well customers. It was good to meet with the county council councillors and the Bicycle Mayor of Cumbria, and we are hopeful that cargo bikes are something that Cumbria County Council can encourage and support in the near future, as a practical way of reducing the county’s carbon footprint”.  

Richard Ingham – Bicycle Mayor of Cumbria said:

“It has been a pleasure to have volunteered to ride this cargo bike, it’s a bit larger than a normal bike and heavier too, but it was very easy to use, and I hope this is something that could be considered for the future, it certainly was a fun way to make deliveries. It scores so well over deliveries by van because you don’t get stuck in traffic congestion and parking at the destination isn’t an issue.”