Amsterdam, city full of bicycles. Photo by siebe taken from Flickr, used under the Creative Commons licence

Newcastle Cycling campaign is urging citizens to send in suggestions for improving the city’s bike paths.

According to the Copenhagenize Index, a metric used to measure cycle friendliness of cities, most UK cities are not suitable for biking. Newcastle Cycling campaign and other organizers are therefore preparing for a November conference entitled “Love Cycling – Go Dutch”, inspired by European road models.

The task proposed for Newcastle cycle enthusiasts is to collect photos and stories of practical bike paths they might come across during their summer travels. These do not have to be in the obvious bike-friendly cities like Amsterdam or Gronigen. They can be anywhere, such as Spain or Sweden, which are catching up fast with the biking trend.

Bike path in Indonesia. Photo taken from Flickr by firdaus usman used under the Creative Commons license

Katja Leyendecker of the Newcastle Cycling Campaign says: “We have already collated positive pedal infrastructure stories from places in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Austria, Finland – and have even travelled as far as California in the United States.”

The campaign has already had some response but campaigners “always want more” ideas for improving Newcastle’s public space.

To get involved with this campaign, please email your photos or stories to newcastle.cycling.campaign@gmail.com