Cycling Embassy of Great Britain

It's a well-worn phrase that a picture can be worth a thousand words; in the case of the Department for Transport an organisation chart (and a stock photo) tell you everything you need to know about where cycling and walking lie on the priorities list - while the agenda of a a local transport summit makes it clear what role the Scottish government thinks walking and cycling has for rural

The Olympics may be all about the winners and losers, but as the Scottish transport minister announces that Glasgow was the lucky winner of its Community Links PLUS design competition, Pedal on Parliament wonders what life would be like if education was funded the same way - while some parts of Scotland don

Yes, the Olympics have started - for what it's worth - and the world makes its regular discovery that the Dutch will cycle anywhere, although hopefully they will be careful of the drivers.

It was of course the Cycling Embassy's AGM in Cambridge a couple of weekends ago. Ranty Highwayman took a typically detailed look at the cycling environment in the city, following infrastructure safaris organised by Cambridge Cycling Campaign, in two separate blogposts.

We at the Cycling Embassy would like to extend our condolences to the Boardman family after the death of Carol Boardman, killed by the driver of a pickup on her bike - and especially Chris Boardman who has done so much to campaign for safer cycling. As Chris Boardman himself said in his tribute to his mother, "may the wind be ever at your back".

The news continues full of doom and gloom so before we plunge into it ourselves, let us start with a reminder that even in the toughest conditions we can still create lifelong cyclists - even if they are becoming vanishingly rare among secondary school-age girls - who will never forget their childhood freedom, even if cy