Saturday, July 16, 2016

BRIGG BIKE NIGHT - LOOKING AHEAD

A packed scene at Brigg Bike Night 2016 in Bridge Street - picture on Nigel Fisher's Brigg Blog

A week after Brigg Bike Night 2016, which was hugely successful, many people are already  looking forward to next July's event.
Lucy Fensome, mine host at the Yarborough Hunt, on Bridge Street, did a great job organising last week's event.
We chatted to a number of spectators on the night who wondered whether Bike Night could be extended, in future years, from Bridge Street into the Market Place or even Wrawby Street.
That's all well and good, but just think of the extra stewarding involved?
The section of Bridge Street used as the venue for the 2015 and 2016 Bike Nights, between the County Bridge and the Yarborough Hunt, has only one exit/entrance to look after.
If the 2017 event was to take in the town centre, bikers would be tempted to:
  • Come along Cary Lane, on which vehicles are permitted as far as Wilko's store
  • Come along Bigby Street as far as Le Raj Restaurant
  • Come along Wrawby Road, from Cross Street.
  • Come along Bridge Street, as now, but then go over the County Bridge.

That would mean a great deal more stewarding. And people prepared to give up their time and don the marshalling bibs, as a number did last week, are not easy to find.  
It's our view that Brigg Bike Night 2016 was ideal. It was manageable and everyone had a great night. 
Barton Bike Night, in comparison, is huge and spread over a large area of the town. It's a wonderful spectacle but the organisation involved is immense. 
Brigg Bike Night only resumed in 2015 after a number of years. It had been a town centre event, with bikes in the Market Place. 

1 comment:

Ken Harrison said...

....so no Wall of Death!!??
Seriously, the latest event was a great success..more bikes and spectators..
But on a serious note...one minute we are complaining about traffic using the pedestrian zone...then we're eager to see car rallies and bike nights in the town...
We can't have separate schemes operating under the same legal perception. For example, we can't call upon the Council to enforce so-call traffic misuse of the town centre, while vehicle events are encouraged in the Market Place...one can't really enforce the former, while the latter are seemingly condoned.
We need to establish proper by-laws for the town centre and to create proper and enforceable regulations when traffic can/cannot use the pedestrian zone...etc..