10 mins with @peterwalker99

Guardian cycling blogger and all round good egg, Peter Walker was kind enough to answer a few questions I posed to him recently. All about cycling obviously. Here's what he had to say.

Do you get out on your bike much?

Most days to and from work. Sometime longer rides at weekend, but not as often as I'd like

What was your first and current bike(s)?

First bike - can't remember. Some kids' bike. 

Currently:

• a very practical Gazelle with basket & child seat
• a much less practical Planet X carbon-frame bike with flat bars for commuting
• a Klein road bike
• a Klein mountain bike

The greatest cyclist of all time is…

Graeme Obree

Do you think we've passed the tipping point for greater acceptance / participation in cycling in the UK?

Not yet, but we're getting there

What would your cycling utopia look like?

A bit like Vauban in Germany 

Do sportives encourage greater participation?

I think so. They give people something to train for, and thus gets them out on their bikes.

Just 2% of people in Manchester cycle five times per week

At least that's what this research form the Department for Transport says.  Although based on a sample of just 500, its likely to be statistically accurate.

Courtesy of The Guardian. Fortunately not a party political map 

It really goes to show the huge cultural shift that is required in the county to get that figure closer to the high figures recorded in other places - in Holland 59% of journeys in cities are done by bike.
Let's face it, Holland can be pretty bleak in terms of its weather as anyone who's been to Amsterdam in the winter will know.  Yes they have much better infrastructure for bikes, but the real difference, the thing that makes people take bikes out, is that cycling is engrained into their culture: kids ride to school, parents ride to work and elderly people ride to tulip arranging classes.
The encouraging lesson is that there is no fixed reason why Britain cant do better - look at Cambridge's figures for example. After all, if you go back to the 1950s, many more journeys were made by bike right here in Blightly.
Let's hope the wonderful year of cycling we've had so far, boosts these figures by the next time they're done.
The Guardian has produced a lovely map of the data which you can find here