#SpokesComp 2024: Bikes & Sustenance

^{“I cycled to the shop to use up the calories I’m going to put on by buying chocolate! “}

Yes, bikes and food are inextricably linked in so many ways! We want to hear how you connect bikes with food and/or drink, in whatever way. You could win a great prize and some modest fame, and your ideas or experiences could help other people!

For example, you could write about…

• your favourite recipe/food to take on a recreational ride [hints]
• transporting food by pedal-power for a food bank [for example]
• returning with produce and tools from your allotment
• favourite takeaway for a coffee on your cycle to work
• food shopping by bike [hints]
• a philosophical treatise on the relationship between food & cycling
• absolutely any ideas, practicalities or experiences linking food and bikes

Your entry might be an amusing incident, a simple handy hint, a heartfelt plea, an interesting picture or whatever – as long as it is about cycling and sustenance, we want to hear from you!

Factors in judging may include how useful your idea is, or how interesting or unusual your experience. Words alone are fine, even just one superb sentence, but a picture, diagram etc often adds value to an entry.

It’s easy to enter – but please carefully read the full rules below. As usual with our competitions, all or most entries will appear on our website (prizewinners normally named, other entries anonymous) and hopefully will give other people useful ideas (or a laugh!)

Most years about half of all entrants get either a prize or a runner-up map or buff!!

Super prizes (Including 10 runner-up prizes) !!

THIS IS THE 2023 PRIZES – THE 2024 PRIZE LIST WILL BE FAIRLY SIMILAR AND DEFINITELY INCLUDES THE FIRST 4 BULLET POINTS BELOW; OTHER PRIZES MAY VARY – A FULL 2024 PRIZELIST WILL BE PUBLISHED HERE SOON.

• ScotRail Return ticket for 2 adults & up to 4 kids between any 2 ScotRail stations
• Spokes £1000 voucher* towards purchase of a cargo-bike
• Spokes £200 voucher* towards purchase of an e-bike
• Spokes Full set of 4 Spokes maps plus 2 buffs**
• Hippodrome – 2 tickets at Scotland’s oldest purpose-built cinema (in Bo’ness)
• Lanterne Rouge (cyclists’ favourite cafe, in Gifford) £10 voucher
• Dowerhouse Cafe Two £25 vouchers [one per prizewinner]
• Edinburgh BikeCoop £50 voucher
• Edinburgh Festival of Cycling  One day free hire of the EdFoC Urban Arrow cargobike
• Laidback Bikes Electric or manual recumbent tour, solo or guided to Cramond OR one day free hire of a cargo bike
• Hart’s Cyclery One-week hire of an e-bike
• Camera Obscura & World of Illusions – Family ticket
• Sustrans online shop £20 voucher
• Spokes 10 runners-up will each win 1 map or buff**

• 2024 addition: Far From the Madding Crowd bookshop (Linlithgow) – The Cycling Chef on the Go

* This voucher may only be used for the purpose stated above. It may only be used by the winner and is not transferable. It must be used at an Edinburgh or Lothians independent bike shop which is not one of the major national chains. We will pay the shop direct.

** Your buff will show a section of either our Edinburgh or our Midlothian map (your choice)

Competition rules

• Closing date – midnight Sunday 8 September
• Your entry can be text (prose or verse) with or without photos, or photos alone, or a video, with the following conditions…
  • Text (prose or verse) – 600 word limit
  • Photos – max 4 photos and please try to keep each photo under 1MB
  • Video – can be very short but definitely no longer than 2 minutes. You must give a link to your video (e.g. on youtube), do not attach it
• If your entry refers to or pictures a place, it must be in Edinburgh or the Lothians
• Email your entry to competition@spokes.org.uk
• In your email, include your name, phone, email, and which town or area you live in
• Each person can submit 1 or 2 entries (not more)
• Entries can only be submitted electronically, not on paper
• Spokes may use your entry on our website, in our Bulletin or in other ways. By entering the competition you give Spokes permission to use your entry material in our ongoing campaigning and promotional work in any way. We may credit your name, unless you specifically ask us not to
• Our competition is primarily for residents of Edinburgh and Lothian. Although anyone else can enter, note that most of the prizes only apply in Edinburgh/Lothian
• The top prize winner gets first choice of prizes, and so on till all prizes allocated
• The competition will be judged by members of Resources Group together with an outside judge; all of whom will be ineligible for prizes

Please help publicise the competition by passing on the link to this article, retweeting our tweet or liking our facebook post.