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news
RAF_Panavia_Tornado_GR1A.jpgPedalPark planned for former RAF base near Norfolk
Plans have been unveiled for a three-mile road cycling track on the perimeter road of a former RAF base near Norwich as part of a proposed leisure cycling facility.
PedalPark at the former RAF Coltishall is the brainchild Neil Turner, owner of Pedal Revolution which has branches in Norwich, Cromer and Gorleston, reports BBC News.
He is seeking £300,000 in funding from bodies such as the National Lottery and Sport England to help turn his vision for the not-for-profit facility into reality.
He says the road itself would not need resurfacing, with the money used to turn the operations room at the former airfield - now known as Scottow Business Park - into a cafe, workshop and base for the PedalPark.
Mr Turner said that the local area was currently lacking such a facility, which he said would be the "only cycle park this side of London."
He said: "Cycling is the fastest growing sport, our most successful event at the last two Olympiads and, quite frankly, road cycling has got no facilities at all.
"We've been working with Norfolk County Council and we're really excited about creating such a wonderful community asset.
"It is about competition, but it will also be a hub for recreational activity."
Norfolk County Council walking and cycling champion, Councillor Hilary Cox. commented: "It's important because it will cover all aspects of cycling - competitions, functions, training youngsters and it will link up with other cycle tracks."
More information about the proposed PedalPark is available on the Pedal Revolution website.
Operational from the summer of 1940 - Sir Douglas Bader was commanding officer of 242 Squadron stationed at Coltishall during the Battle of Britain - the base was decommissioned in 2006.
The area within the perimeter now houses a solar farm.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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Why do you think that cyclists complaining about allowing every minicab and Uber to hare along the bus lanes, is being "entitled"?
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The self-professed cyclists are really self-claimed cyclists of the 'I'm a cyclist myself' variety
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They should read scampercraft and not exaggerate the danger of scuttling along. I discourage squirrel predation by acting like one.
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You can get the Varia for £10 less from Decathlon.
- Geoff H 2 hours 59 min ago
Perhaps they should apply the same standard to dangerous, unsafe, poorly designed roads and COMPLETELY rip them out rather than "fix" or "redesign"...
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16 comments
Without wishing to distract from the Jaguars v Tornados debate, this is good news for cycling in (or 'near'!) Norfolk...
...although it'll be a bit windy!
Nice that there are some younger people on here, in my day Coltishall had Lightnings.
My pedantic instincts were aroused by the heading 'former RAF base near Norfolk'. Near Norfolk?
I wonder what PSi their tyres are set at?
Ignoring the madness of yapping about 'what jet is in the image '. (more time biking Needed there) super prospect for cycle racing and training in the area. Getting kids to a truck free environment to master road craft is a exciting opportunity. Best of luck with it.
Are you kidding? This is indeed a fine photo of the Bruggen GR 1 detachment at CAF Goose Bay, taken sometime in the late eighties. On weekends we used to hire bikes and go out in the "bundo" and boy was it tough. The dirt tracks were brutal on tyres and then the black fly would just eat you all day.
Happy days indeed!
That may well be Goose Bay; it's certainly not Marham or Colt! Ginsterdrz - "take off" is a very generous term for watching Jags drag themselves airborne
*removes No. 1 hat and sits down*.
Pretty sure that's Goose Bay?
My Dad was based there for a while back in the day. When I say 'back in the day' I mean the cold war. Not fun.
Coltishall- famous for Jaguars. Very. And to give it a bit more kudos, 1 Squadron- Spitfires.
Goose Bay- famous for Tornados flipping over and landing upside down because of the odd Arctic winds. Apparently the servicemen had a running joke of calling it 'The Bermuda Triangle'. I think it's a bit like doctor humour.
Anyway, it's no biggy- just find a nice photo of Coltishall. It's actually quite pretty. I'd love to race around it.
Yep-many a happy boyhood visit watching Jaguars take off-not Tornados!
Perhaps a picture of Jaguar aircraft would be a better fit for an article about ex-RAF Coltishall?
It's a late entry I know, and there's a been a lot of competition, but ladies and gentlemen: I nominate this for 'Most Britishly-Pedantic Observation Of A Road.CC Article' for the 2015 season.
I disagree:) if road.cc are just going to attach the first photo of a plane they find googling wikipedias creative commons, then they should expect to be called on it if its very obviously wrong and specifically adds nothing to the story. everyone locally knows Coltishall is famous for its Jaguars, to the point even the local running club are called the Coltishall Jaguars. so attaching a photo of a bunch of different type of planes, not at the same airfield, not even the same country as the photo was taken in Canada apparently, seems pointless when road.cc could just have contacted the local press, or Pedal Revolution who have pictures and details of the plans themselves, which the article links to so its not like they werent aware of it
Wrong! Planes are important!
On another note, I have done a charity event at Goodwood 2 years running. Riding round the track is brilliant, for about 5 laps. Then it gets a bit...repetitive. If you can get in a bunch and stick with them, it is fun riding at 25 mph+ on a really wide bit of road with only other bikes to think about, but it will still become dull after a while, all you do is end up counting down laps til its over.
Thank you for your kind comment, KiwiMike.
I see I'm not alone (thanks to the ex-RAF members)- lazy journalism is just plain lazy!
The exact thought that went through my mind when I saw the photo! I was about to say something to 'er indoors about it when I checked the comments...
It sounds like it has the potential to be a fantastic venue.