A BIKE train of more than 100 riders will be passing through Balcombe, Brighton and Newhaven en route to Paris for UN climate talks.

The UK ‘Time to Cycle’ ride will be setting off from south London on Sunday with participants from as far afield as Scotland and Torbay, calling for much more urgent action to keep fossil fuels in the ground and switch to renewable energy to prevent run-away global warming and catastrophic climate change during the decades ahead.

The ride will pass through the village of Balcombe, to celebrate the Sussex village’s successful campaign against fracking and the community’s creation of the Repower Balcombe solar energy project.

On arrival in Brighton, supporters are invited to join the ride from Withdean Park at 3.30pm on Sunday and parade through the city centre with music and flags flying.

The day will finish with a 5pm reception at the Brighthelm Centre on North Road where speakers will welcome the riders and they will be treated to a low impact feast made from waste food, courtesy of the Real Junk Food Project.

Most riders will stay overnight at the Brighthelm Centre and Exeter Street Hall community centre, ready for an early start on Monday, parading along the seafront to catch the Newhaven-Dieppe ferry and riding on to Paris.

Once again supporters are invited to join this leg of the ride, assembling at the Level from 6am for a 7am departure.

Chairman of the Brighton Climate Action Network, Duncan Blinkhorn, who will be helping to lead the ride, said: “The Paris meeting is a last chance saloon for world leaders to get a grip on this incredibly urgent issue - the biggest threat to have ever faced our species.

"We hope they will do what is required and not bend to pressure from the big fossil fuel corporations. Leaders know that most known oil, coal and gas reserves must be kept in the ground if we are to have any chance of keeping temperature rise within the critical two degrees compared to pre-industrial levels.

"Failure is likely to trigger an uncontrollable situation in the coming years – leading to ever more storms, floods, droughts and sea-level rise."

He added: “By cycling to Paris we are symbolising the type of low-impact behaviour-change that is called for, along with myriad renewable energy and efficiency options.

"All over the world people are making positive change happen, from solar lamps and efficient wood burners in African villages to solar panels on rooftops and cycle lanes across cities like Brighton and big wind projects like Rampion off our Sussex coast. We just need more of this and faster in order to bury the fossil fuel industries where they belong”.

Once in Paris, the riders will draw attention to climate change issues in a series of spontaneous cycle-manifestations around the city. At night they will project personalised photo-messages from UK supporters onto iconic buildings around the city. Personalised photo-messages can be sent to timetocycle@lensmob.com .