IT WOULD be difficult not to have noticed the changes to Farnham traffic during the lockdown.

And the massive reduction in car traffic has allowed young families, older members of the community and many others to enjoy the beautiful streets of Farnham by bicycle.

A survey by the motoring organisation, the AA, has confirmed that even car drivers want to cycle more and want cleaner air, a view which was echoed by Farnham’s E-bikeshop.co.uk, who said this week bike sales had “increased vertically” with some models now entirely selling out.

The UK’s largest bike retailer, Halfords, reported double the normal bike sales, with factories not able to supply demand.

Gary Bird, of East Street bike shop Hoops Velo, added the quieter and safer road space in Farnham had brought people flooding into their shop during the lockdown, and expressed his belief that keeping cyclists coming into town was the best way to kick-start the town’s economy when shops reopen.

Pete Goodman, Downing Street resident and founder of the Farnham Cycle Campaign, said seeing young families on bikes in the town centre would be “unthinkable” with the previous levels of car traffic pre-lockdown.

He welcomed the pavement-widening experiment in Farnham announced this week to allow social distancing when the shops open again.

However, Mr Goodman added it would disappoint a lot of people if these measures didn’t include a 20mph speed limit and space in the new road experiment to sustain the increased levels of cycling by the public.

He said: “‘Not sport, transport’ is Farnham Cycle Campaign’s motto and we are concerned that large numbers of people might be forced to retire from active travel and get back into their cars if the local councillors focus on only pedestrians in the ‘new normal’.

“Many other towns and cities in the UK and Europe have created ‘pop-up’ cycle lanes and pedestrian space during the pandemic, the latest being Nice in France.

“However, few changes have occurred to Dutch towns with a similar road system to Farnham as they have always had cycle lanes into the centre.”

Farnham Cycle Campaign has restarted its own ebike loan scheme, with the demonstrator bike being lent out for the first time since the start of the lockdown now some new sterilisation measures have become available.

Mr Goodman added ebikes “make hills disappear and allow many older or unfit people to tackle Firgrove Hill and other tricky routes with ease”.

But as per the experience of E-bikeshop.co.uk, Halfords and Hoops Velo, they are a victim of their own success and many models are now sold out in the shops.

For more information about hiring an ebike, or the campaign itself, visit the website www.farnhamcyclecampaign.org.uk