Travel: From rust-heap to ice-cream: Britain by bike

On your bike with National Bike Week

You know that battered old heap of rust in the garage, with flat tyres and creaky joints? If that describes your car, then leave it at home on Wednesday - National Bike-to-Work Day - and cycle in instead. Conversely, if it describes your bike, then get it fixed up this weekend.

National Bike Week begins today and runs until 14 June. Many events are planned throughout the country, aimed at both beginners and serious riders.

All over the country Doctor Bike "clinics", with stalls manned by stethoscoped "bike doctors", will be willing to help you with any queries or problems you may have. These clinics are funded by the sponsors of the entire week, Halfords.

Today there should be much jollity when the Sportsmatch Challenge gets under way. At 200 locations around the country, children and adults are able to try out an obstacle course involving ramps, see-saws and other tricky terrain. The idea is to encourage better bike-handling skills and safer cycling, particularly for children. The event is being run through the sponsorship of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, and a range of cycling-related prizes is on offer.

Many of the organised rides, like the Rebels and Radicals of the East End tour (above) do not require you to be an especially dedicated cyclist.

To sample some of the Trans-Pennine Trail, the cycle/footpath linking Hull and Liverpool, you could join a "discovery ride" through Cheshire on 14 June, cycling from Lymm near Warrington to Dunham Massey near Altrincham with the Warrington Borough Council's countryside rangers. For more information and booking forms, contact Tim Baker (01925 758195).

In the Midlands on Monday night (8 June), there is an evening mystery ride around Stratford-upon-Avon, covering nine miles and finishing at a mystery pub. For further information contact Dick Taylor (01789 268821).

Or, to keep everyone happy, try the Skellingthorpe family ride in Lincolnshire on Wednesday 10 June, a three-miler following a route that has just been opened as part of a plan endeavour to link Skellingthorpe with Lincoln. Details from Sustrans' East Midlands office (01522 788889).

Tomorrow, starting at 10am, the professionals show how it is done at the Welsh National Road-Race Championships. The event begins in Llandrindod Wells, reputedly the smallest town in Britain.

Back in the capital, the London Cycling Campaign is planning 10 per cent more events this year than last. At 11am today, a charity bike ride with a difference takes place: a guided tour around London's best second-hand clothes shops, beginning at Mind in Camden (opposite the tube station) and ending at Humana in Shepherd's Bush. And on Tuesday evening, the "Epic Ice-Cream Ride" starts at Enfield Civic Centre at 7m and ends at Marine Ices in Chalk Farm. Lights and a sweet tooth essential.

More information on events can be obtained from the Cycle Touring Club's National Bike Week hotline (01483 419556) or http://www.national-bike- week.org.uk