The rollercoaster of cycling popularity

[super_davo]

In London, utility cycling is the norm, and if ever you go past Bank station in commuting time you would very much dispute that cycling is experiencing a lull in popularity. There are all sorts, from casually dressed on lime bikes, to Bromptons, to fully lycra'd up roadies and everything in between.

The challenge is replicating that elsewhere. Its very much a case of 'if you build it they will come' in terms of infrastructure and I think Manchester is probably closest behind and they definitely do not have the weather / terrain advantages London does.

For utility cycling to take off - it needs to be the easiest choice of getting from A to B, with no major blockers. Cycling has major advantages over driving, public transport etc in most city centre sub 5 mile journeys so then it becomes about removing blockers. Cycle lanes tackle the safety blocker, hire schemes tackle the storage aspect and once you get past a certain point in terms of usage word of mouth kicks in and usage explodes.

Sport & leisure cycling is a completely different beast altogether and I expect that will always be a bit niche.

 

[Illaveago]

Back in the days, 40's through to early 70's there were still quite a few people who cycled to work as most jobs were in their towns. Nowadays jobs have moved out of towns and people are having to commute further distances which makes cycling more difficult. I have worked in places which were 8 or 14 miles away and cycled there when my car was off the road. I managed it but it was a bit of a struggle and not very nice in the wet or the dark. In those days I just wore ordinary clothes, which I basically still do.

 

[Emanresu]

There are cyclists and hard-core cyclists. Anti-drone nets in Kharkiv.

 

[teeonethousand]

I have asked quite a few folks recently why they don't cycle to work/town etc now that fuel is so expensive. So far all have said that they would be scared of the roads and cars...a few added the state of the roads. All already had a bike in the shed ..somewhere. Actually I understand that and it's why I will always seek out quiet roads and preferably tracks....but then for me it's only for health and fitness and not utility/work.

 

[esoxlucius]

I don't know why people think cycling should be way more popular than it is. The cons for cycling outweigh the pros immensely imo.

The pros....physical/mental health benefits and you get to see nice scenery on occasion! Good pros I must admit.

The cons....British weather at the best of times isn't great, autumn through winter/early spring can be downright grim. State of the road surfaces. It can be quite an expensive pastime too (if just starting out with no stuff). The seemingly increasing potential for accidents. Other people's negative attitudes towards us. And don't forget, cycling can bloody hurt if you're going to do it right.

No wonder the thousands who, during COVID, thought it would be great to start cycling, ended up throwing their bikes in the shed never to see daylight again.

And going off the seemingly advanced years of most people on this forum, it would seem there's little new blood coming through to carry the baton as it were.

Pan flat countries such as Holland, where they have good cycling infrastructure to boot have the best chance of cycling success. The UK? Not a chance imo.

 

[Brandane]

In London, utility cycling is the norm,

It saddens me to say it as a life long cyclist (63 years in) that this is NEVER going to be the case in the majority of the UK..

I live on the west coast of Scotland (Clyde coast) and the climate does not exactly encourage cycling, unless you are hard core. It seems to be windy pretty much constantly, and a dry day is an unusual occurrence. Icy days in the winter too. And it has become notably worse in recent years. "Summers" don't really happen, the rain just gets less cold.

Couple that to a marked increase in cyclist hatred (social media to blame?), lack of decent infrastructure (which I am not a fan of; it causes them and us division, and in an ideal world where drivers play nice shouldn't be necessary anyway), and bike theft, all conspire to make cycling a less than tempting mode of transport for 99.9% of the local population.

I really can't blame them. At times cycling is no fun, even for someone who likes to think of themselves as a cyclist!

 

[super_davo]

It saddens me to say it as a life long cyclist (63 years in) that this is NEVER going to be the case in the majority of the UK..
I live on the west coast of Scotland (Clyde coast) and the climate does not exactly encourage cycling, unless you are hard core. It seems to be windy pretty much constantly, and a dry day is an unusual occurrence. Icy days in the winter too. And it has become notably worse in recent years. "Summers" don't really happen, the rain just gets less cold. Couple that to a marked increase in cyclist hatred (social media to blame?), lack of decent infrastructure (which I am not a fan of; it causes them and us division, and in an ideal world where drivers play nice shouldn't be necessary anyway), and bike theft, all conspire to make cycling a less than tempting mode of transport for 99.9% of the local population.

I would agree in a remote west coast Scotland location but can definitely see a situation where utlity cycling takes off in a major way in Glasgow and Edinburgh (if it can happen in Manchester, it can happen there). I don't think the weather is as much of an obstacle as people make out, as proven by the popularity of cycling in Copenhagen and the Netherlands. And things can change very quickly... as has been proven by London and Paris, as long as the political will is there.
That's going to be the challenge in the UK for the near future though.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

The cons....British weather at the best of times isn't great

Honestly people are not made of sugar. Are people so coddled in cotton wool that this is the real reason they drive short commutes?

 

[esoxlucius]

Honestly people are not made of sugar. Are people so coddled in cotton wool that this is the real reason they drive short commutes?

Us guys certainly not, we're made of stronger stuff, we're too long in the tooth to let weather beat us. I was referring more to people just getting into cycling.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Although I am retired I do some "work" volunteering with AgeUK


Which means I often end up visiting clients. Sometimes this in the Office in Runcorn
and sometimes in the home

SO I could use my bike (OK OK ebike!)
so when I use my car what stops me?

firstly - weather - I cannot turn up to meet a client dripping wet
and wearing full waterproofs might also not be right in terms of "client relations" - especially with older and possibly vulnerabel and confusec people

This also applied when I was a teacher - I was often basically "on duty" the moment I arrived in school as I was also the IT technician so I would often get attacked by a series of problem as soon as I arrived
and there was no-where to change easily and out of sight (school - teacher - pupils saw him getting changed - not a good look!)

Secondly - where to park it
The Office is fine - there are cycle Loop on/in the pavement right outside so that if fine ad I have cycled there in the past
but someone's house is different
I have no idea if it is even possible to leave it ina back garden - especially in "independent living" sort of place - the only place where I have checked I asked the lady and there was nowhere I could have left it and locked it up
and it is often almost impossible - or inappropriate - to do proper checks beforehand
This was not a problem with the school - apart from the caretaker (sorry - Site Manager!) I was the only person with a key to the "bike shed"!

There is a problem with image - i.e. setting the client's mind at rest if I turn up in hi-vis - I tend to be careful to look "normal" when I arrive - but that is mostly a minor problem



So - I do use my bike to get there - at the Office in decent weather
and I used to use it to go to school as a teacher/IT technician - but only in dry weather after I got there one day and found mud splatter all u my trousers due to lorries of soil (etc) going up and down the road outside our estate


A lot of this - changed for different circumstance - shows why some people avoid using their bike for commuting

and it does annoy me when I see articles showing how much you would save in swapping to a bike
and include the basic costs for a car rather than just the costs for commuting assuming that all jobs are suitable for cycle commuting every day of the year

 

[All uphill]

The Netherlands is more unusual than the UK, but you also have to remember that most of the Netherlands is pretty well flat. Which makes a big difference to cycling.

I've lived and cycled in the Netherlands, and, in winter, I'd rather live with Somerset's hills than NL's headwinds!

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Us guys certainly not, we're made of stronger stuff, we're too long in the tooth to let weather beat us. I was referring more to people just getting into cycling.

But you don’t need to be made of stronger stuff. You are hardly crossing the Sahara with a single bottle of water during a commute. Cycle commutes are not hard. They have just fallen by the wayside over the decades. You do not even need much to start, just a bike.

 

[Brandane]

Honestly people are not made of sugar. Are people so coddled in cotton wool that this is the real reason they drive short commutes?

Yes. And convincing "them" otherwise will take more than a huge rise in fuel prices. It just won't happen on any noticeable level, IMHO..

 

[Brandane]

But you don’t need to be made of stronger stuff. You are hardly crossing the Sahara with a single bottle of water during a commute. Cycle commutes are not hard. They have just fallen by the wayside over the decades. You do not even need much to start, just a bike.

As with everything, "it all depends"..... In my case, 22 miles commute each way, so instead of 1 hour per day commuting, it would be 3 hours depending on the wind! Add in time to get changed (and no showering facility at work), it all just becomes a bit impractical. Certainly not impossible, but for me not an attractive alternative. If the price of fuel becomes a real major obstacle, then at my age I would be giving up work rather than facing the prospect of the cycle commute.

 

[Punkawallah]

I think the pandemic was driven by boredom. If people were riding bikes to save money, there would already be higher levels of biking. I think to change that, biking economics needs to become a required course, 😃

I’ve flipped the odd bike to be priced at £40 - sometimes I made a profit, sometimes I broke even. My ‘tag-line’ was ‘ride it for work for two weeks, and you’ve made your money back’.