Suspect this isn’t going to be of much use to many people on here – you probably don’t live close enough to benefit from it, but, you may want to aid development of a new cycle circuit to help locals to improve their biking.

I tried a quick search and haven’t found this mentioned, so hoping this is ok to post up – if it has been done already, then no issues with this being closed.

You can find out more (and donate) at – https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/letsbuildit – it sounds a great project and would be incredibly useful for local clubs – and no doubt help develop youth riders into serious contenders at races as well.

Not sure if it is any use as you may have already explored this avenue. British Cycling have currently got 15million in funding to allocate to community cycle projects. If it is not allocated by Jan 2021 the money will be returned to UK Sport.

That is very useful, thanks for that. I’m not connected to the project, just posting up to help raise awareness and hopefully funds to make this happen.

I’ll contact the project and let them know though, thanks.

As @cycloform says, get in touch with BC. There’s little point in developing a circuit if Scottish Cycling / British Cycling aren’t involved from the start.

They’ll want a formal risk assessment (done by their in-house team) if it’s ever going to be used for Youth racing which means they’ll want input into its design. Unless it is going to be literally just a fun “in a park” bit of tarmac…

Worst case would be to get crowdfunding, build something, try and do some racing or coaching on it and for SC/BC to turn around and say “it’s not up to standard, we can’t authorise/insure any events on it”.

And also, they might co-fund it!

I suspect that has already been done – plenty time and discussion was had after Lochgelly got built and they saw the uptake there, from what I know about it, SC are keen to get something this side of the water as well, so it may already be happening. I’m not involved with this but I have a decent chat to the coaches in my local club and they talk about this a lot.

I’m not sure what money BC or SC have committed to this but they are certainly both aware/involved in the project. It’s got Sport Scotland backing and West Lothian Council investment too – the issue is all these things often depend on “well if the community really wants it they should put some cash in too”. A number of local cycle clubs, individual donors etc have raised about £20k so far and the next stage is this crowd funding approach. I believe if they hit that target then building work starts so they are really close.

Its not cheap to build, because the design has to be able to survive a long period of time, be hard wearing in Scottish weather and meet both the councils standards for building roads/paths etc and be able to meet the expectations of BC and others for design / layout etc. there’s been input from riders, commissaires, coaches etc to achieve that and ensure it’s not only a great venue for events but is suitable for large group coaching sessions etc.

Whilst it’s primary intended use is cycling there will be other benefits like roller Nordic ski training, road running, hand cycling, etc who are all beneficiaries too, and it’s next to a pool for triathletes. This crowd funding would provide the lights that would make it an all year round facility.

My understanding is that as well as being usable by groups/clubs/events there will be “drop in sessions” like using a swimming pool where anyone can turn up to use it, so even if you aren’t a competitive cyclist and just want somewhere to train this could still be useful for you.

Whilst obviously there will only be a finite number of people here in WL this facility should benefit everyone in Central Scotland who wants to ride road bikes. I hear enough people here say they wouldn’t ride on the roads because of the traffic and many of us would be concerned about our children riding on the roads especially at night or in the rain – so there must be some folks on here who would appreciate a facility like this. And even if you think it’s not for you – perhaps some of the “incentives” are things you would like – there’s some nice bike art, a cannondale bike and signed BC top etc. if they haven’t factored in delivery to anyone who is remote then just get in touch with me and I’ll sort out a way to get anything you purchase/win on the crowd funder to any STW user in the UK.

I live under a mile from this. Even though I don’t race and ride on the road much (apart from commuting), I’ve donated.

AFAIK The project has been moving for years and is now at an advanced stage. I’m pretty convinced it will happen. I think I might donate again as I was a bit tight the first time round (a tenner isn’t very much).