Yesterday, we ran 5km to the Preston Park Velodrome to support the Brighton Bike Hub — a brilliant volunteer-run community workshop. 🚲 They make cycling affordable by offering free tool access, DIY repair spaces, refurbished bike sales, and adult cycle training in and around Preston Park.

Our GoodGym group session mission? To tidy and paint their 20ft shipping container, transforming it into a clean white canvas for an upcoming mural artist!

The Bike Hub mission? Reducing carbon emissions, improving air quality and making our streets more people and planet-friendly, while getting around more cheerfully. They are also committed to enabling those on a low income to enjoy the benefits of cycling.

Did you know that nearly half of people in Britain spend more than 18 hours a week on the sofa – yet 70% say they want to be more active? Timely, today, British Cycling launched Sofa to Saddle to get the nation active – a free eight-week programme to help more people discover the joy of cycling. The benefits of getting started are significant. Research shows that people who cycle at least once a week are 37% more likely to feel good about themselves, while 79% say cycling helps clear their head and 58% feel calmer and more relaxed.

By making cycling more accessible and supporting people to take those first pedal strokes, Brighton Bike Hub contributes to Cycling UK mission to enable and inspire everybody to experience cycling's joys and benefits, and to British Cycling ambition to help one million more people get on their bikes by 2028, creating healthier, happier communities across Britain.

This GoodGym session and organisation are close to my heart. It felt rewarding to help others get a Good addition to their active travel journeys.

Book a training with BikeHub here: https://brightonbikehub.org/training-sessions/

Download Sofa to Saddle here: britishcyc.cc/sofatosaddle

Join GoodGym for another Good session!

“BUY - FIX - RIDE - DONATE YOUR BIKE” is the strapline of Brighton Bike Hub, a volunteer-led community bike workshop open five days a week for anyone to drop in and get help repairing their bike. Their mission is reducing wastage of abandoned bikes and enabling members of the community to access affordable cycling.

“RUN - FIX – RIDE”😊 is what 10 Brighton GoodGymers did yesterday at our group session at the Brighton Bike Hub. We ran and cycled to the Bike Hub East workshop in the Big Lemon bus yard, not open to the public, where there is a mountain of bikes needing lots of TLC. Paired for mechanical action, our task was dismantling old and rusty bikes and recover all the good parts that can be used to refurbish other bikes and make them suitable for riding. The hub offers to help people fix, maintain and get their bikes back on the road for free. Euan was tempted to donate his bike but then convinced to get it fixed. Let’s see if he will show up at our next session on the two wheels 😊.

We fully enjoyed the session at Bike Hub and welcomed Christophe, who recently moved to Brighton from GoodGym London. Let’s keep getting active together at our next GoodGym Brighton’s sessions.

Worth remembering that the Bike Hub runs regularly monthly free cycle maintenance sessions as part of Cycling UK’s Big Bike Revival, and NEW! Bikeability Adult Cycle Training. You can book HERE

“Remember, remember! The fifth of November, The Gunpowder treason and plot; I know of no reason Why the Gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot!”

The Lewes Bonfire Night, #LewesBonfire, is the most famous Bonfire Night festivities, with Lewes being called the bonfire capital of the world. A remembrance of history evolving mainly from the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 and Guy Fawkes (Guido Fawkes) and the Seventeen Martyrs burnt at the stake in Lewes, Sussex during the period of 1555–1557. It also remembers the Protestant Reformation in 1517, which was a schism from the Catholic Church. Nowadays, #LewesBonfire features a ‘free expression’ of local problems or any reasons of grievance, which will be blown up at the end of the processions by the five Lewes Bonfire Societies, culminating with a magnificent fireworks display!

This year, I decided to join the Bike Train from the Level to Lewes Bonfire - A fun festive ride organised by Brighton Bike Hub and Cranks, with music, at a gentle pace, promoting sustainable transport initiatives of the 'Lewes Road for Clean Air' community group with the aim to increase the uptake of cycling and enable a shift away from car dependency.

Bike Train’s marshals, Sarah, Gav, Maria and Stefania encouraged other GoodGym-ers, including new comers Patrick and Amanda, to join the fun by offering their help and budding up each other as well as other less confidents cyclers, and so by creating a safety-in-numbers environment for everybody to take part!

It was a great experience – Très Bon! Very GOOD, GoodGym!

See WHAT's ON NEXT at GoodGym Brighton!

BUY - FIX - RIDE - DONATE YOUR BIKE

Brighton Bike Hub is a volunteer-run Community Cycle Workshop, off Brighton’s Lewes Road, working to reduce waste and enable members of the community to access affordable cycling.

Today, GoodGymers Michael, Richard and Stefania supported a horde of regular Brighton Hub volunteers to replace a tired out old tent roof over the Lewes road workshop.

First, we had to shift all the bikes out of the workshop to give us all some space. The old roof was then "raised" and with the help of some ladders, and old bits of wood removed from the frame. A shiny new roof was then unfolded and with the same tools and plenty of pulling stretched over the frame.

We had a good bit of time left so we squeezed some old inner tubes between the frame and the tent, put some prices out on the repaired bikes and got the group photo sorted.

Many hands made light work and we left the hub before the night and rain set in!

Next time in spring we will volunteer to bike bikes! We are already exited.