The South East’s first Electric Bicycle Network will launch in the South Downs on Tuesday 3 April, giving visitors the opportunity to hire and ride ebikes around the rural lanes and trails of England’s newest national park.
Press Release:
In the beautiful South Downs National Park, a new fleet of electric bicycles for hire are bringing the simple pleasure of cycling within everyone’s reach. It’s cycling, but not as we know it. Electric bicycles dismiss headwinds and flatten hills. Now everyone can enjoy the great outdoors on two wheels.
In the beautiful South Downs National Park, a new fleet of electric bicycles for hire are bringing the simple pleasure of cycling within everyone’s reach. It’s cycling, but not as we know it. Electric bicycles dismiss headwinds and flatten hills. Now everyone can enjoy the great outdoors on two wheels.
Strategically located hire points have been set up at local businesses in the western end of the national park creating a network that will allow visitors to hire and return their bikes as it suits them. Between hire points are beautiful country lanes, special rights of way, visitor attractions, inns and tea rooms to enjoy. Riders can charge up their ebike at these stop-off points while enjoying the region’s finest food or drink. This will increase custom for local outlets, while reducing the overall impact of visitor traffic.
Ebikes benefit a rider by allowing them to cycle in comfort, powering up hills and arriving refreshed at a destination. They are a healthy and near zero carbon way to enjoy beautiful parts of Hampshire and Sussex, and they help promote tourism that preserves the character of the countryside.
Nick Heasman, Western Area Manager for the South Downs National Park, said: “By hiring electric bicycles people can explore the South Downs’ quiet country lanes and help to reduce traffic congestion and pollution in the national park. This is also a terrific opportunity for local attractions, shops and cafes to become charge or hire points and work together to encourage visitors to enjoy the park more sustainably.
“The electric bicycles open new parts of the South Downs National Park up to the less agile, allowing more people to access the big hills and experience landscapes that were previously open to only the fittest cyclists.”
CPRE Hampshire has partnered with Electric Travel to provide local management and expertise. Camilla Swiderska, Sustainable Transport Campaigner for CPRE Hampshire, said: “Last year CPRE ran a trial in Medstead and Four Marks which proved that ebikes are easy and fun to ride and very popular with people of all ages. So we thought that a new pool of ebikes in the National Park would be great for eco-tourism and the wider countryside. The South Downs National Park loved the idea and the national Electric Bicycle Network team has helped us make it a reality. I can’t wait to see them finally go into action.”
A half-day hire will cost in the region of £15 per person. They are suitable for adults and teenagers, aged 14 and over.
The organisers would welcome applications from more hotels, B&Bs and tourist venues to join the network as Hire Points. This will help the scheme to reach its full potential in the coming months. More charge sites are also needed, where riders can stop, enjoy a drink, food or an attraction whilst their batteries charge.
So far, there are four Hire Points in scenic and strategic locations covering parts of the iconic Shipwright’s way, traffic-free Forestry Commission sites, a key national park railhead in Petersfield and heart of the park market town, Midhurst. They are:
· Quench Cycles, Alice Holt Forest
· Cyclelife, Petersfield
· Crank Cycles, Alton
· Cowdray Farm Shop, Midhurst.
11 Charge Points have also come on board including destinations and attractions such as Jane Austen’s House Museum in Chawton, the National Trust at Hinton Ampner, Bramdean, Langrish House Hotel in the Meon Valley and the Rural Life Centre in Tilford near Farnham. A full list of businesses involved is attached.
Steve Garidis, co-founder of the Electric Bicycle Network, said: “We’re thrilled to launch the South Downs Electric Bicycle Network – our first in the South East – in partnership with the South Downs National Park and CPRE. This beautiful area has rightly become protected as a national park, and now practically anyone can explore its scenic lanes and trails on two wheels, whatever their level of fitness and however hilly it is!”
For information about the scheme please visit the Electric Bicycle Network website or telephone local CPRE Hampshire manager, Camilla Swiderska on 07768 123457
