Get on your bike is a phrase that I’ve always associated with Norman Tebbit’s suggestion to the unemployed back in the eighties! However, I have immensely enjoyed getting back on my bike in the last few years.

I do remember my Dad launching me off on my bike when I was about seven years old, just after he’d removed the stabilisers!

It was Covid that really got me back in the saddle regularly. I found I could get further in that one hour a day when we were allowed out, cycling around the town and out into the countryside. I’ve carried on with the bike and now use it daily to move around the town.

I still have a car and do use it, usually only in bad weather or when moving heavy loads. So as the weather hasn’t been the best this year so far, and I’ve had a lot of leaflets just recently, I have used it more!

Neil MacDonald playing Beat the StreetNeil MacDonald playing Beat the Street (Image: Neil MacDonald)

I was delighted to see 'Beat the Street', a free interactive game come to Ipswich. Beat the Street is an interactive game that encouraged people to walk, cycle and wheel for prizes. It started in February, before half-term and ran through until the end of March.

The game was delivered by Intelligent Health, who run these across the country, with Suffolk County Council, NHS and Ipswich Borough Council.

To play, players needed a card. I picked mine up at the Library, though 35 schools were involved and my son was given cards for himself and an adult at school.

You tap your card at a 'Beat Box', which were placed on 128 lampposts around the borough. They beep and flash when you tap and record your progress on a central website. They help encourage participants explore the area, what it has to offer and to develop the habit of regular exercise.

I didn’t win a prize, though I did cover 153 miles, according to the website. I did go to every beat box in town, including all the edges of the borough boundary: Rushmere Hall school, Whitton Church Lane, Bramford Road, Belmont Road, Bourne Park, Ravenswood and Broke Hall!

Although I have canvassed all over the town, I still found new places and short-cuts for bike travel!

The game finished with nearly 11,000 players who covered over 68,000 miles and tapped the beat boxes 233,233 times. A real hotspot of activity was near Ravenswood Community Primary School, so no surprise that they topped the leader board for schools. I hope all players can keep up the walking and cycling in the future.

Beat the Street is finished now, though players receive a monthly email with local wellbeing news like Ipswich Parkrun, Wolsey’s Walks and the Wildlife Trusts 30 days Wild nature challenge. These are all about encouraging people and children to be more active.

I was recently at the launch of the Wolf Way, a long-distance cycle path around Suffolk. The Wolf Way is a 248 mile/400km cycling adventure which winds its way around the best bridleways, cycle paths and quiet back roads.

The route is designed to be accessible to all riders, guiding them through Suffolk’s stunning scenery, taking in some of Suffolk’s most beautiful locations and hidden gems.

Riders are unlikely to finish it in a single day so there are some circular routes, like the East Wolf which starts and finishes in Ipswich and shorter routes which link to railway stations for a lift home.

I’d love to tackle the Wolf Way but first I need to get a bit fitter. Perhaps I should get on my bike.