Workshop test ride at RCA

To kick start my research I planned a small workshop at the university with fellow female colleagues who were new to cycling in London. I wanted to start chipping away at the resistance to jumping on a bike in this city, particular if you are a lady - according to the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) women are around half as likely to have cycled in the past month compared with men.

Interestingly they all responded to my poster, 'I Want to Ride A Bicycle' workshop - so there is obviously an underlying desire there, but what are the barriers for them?

Part #1

For the first half hour, we shared our previous cycling memories - often from childhood - and then brainstormed what had held them back trying a bicycle again since they had moved to London. Coming from China, Tiawan and Chile, each of them had a different experience on urban riding, and a common theme was the uncertainty of the rules of the road in the UK. Other recuring issues included: 

• knowing where and how to start: getting a bike, clothing, other equipment etc.
• anxiety about traffic
• the Great British weather, rain, wind...
• not being fit enough  
• getting sweaty!

Part #2

Next we headed over the road to Hyde Park, where we hired out a 'Boris Bike' for everyone and then set the wheels in motion for an inagural pedal around the park! Our simple route took us in an anti-clockwise loop around the east end of Hyde Park, making use of the new segregated cycle lane along the south side of the park and down West Carriage Drive, crossing the main road road through the park once using the controlled pedestrian/bicycle crossing.

Within the first ten minutes everyone was similing and my friend from China remarked on how quick it was to get round the park on a bike compared to walking, and how much she was reminded that she enjoyed cycling in this way.

Obviously I had planned it just right, so that we saw the royal cavlery clip-clopping out of the barracks on the South Carriage Drive with all their finery shinning in the morning sunlight.

Photo opportunity on the Serpentine Bridge: we were admittedly very lucky with the weather - a cold, but perfectly dry, calm and sunny winter's morning.

Part #3

Back in the warm with a pot of tea and cake, we reviewed the experience, noting down the best and worst moments and plotting them onto a map of the route.

Highlights included:

• seeing the calvery
• riding over the Serpentine lake

Finally I invited everyone to sketch out their ideal bike ride - common themes included:

• Riding with friends
• Stopping for a picnic, camping
• Trees, flowers, nature etc.

Reflections

Although only a very small sample of insights, it's interesting to see how common themes around barriers and opportunities were already emerging:

There are obvious practical barriers like accessing a bicycle for a start, then storing and maintaining it. Its often not that there isn't information available on this, on the contrary it can easily feel overwhelming and off-putting going into a bike shop for a complete beginner, or running a google search.

Then there are the emotional barriers of confidence, anxiety and fear - the unknowns of moving in the city in a new way: routes, rules, risk, rain and the dark, all suggest a different behaviour on two wheels, and that takes a certain level of committment to address.

However, on the positive side, everyone was pleasantly surprised at how much they enjoyed the short bike ride we did; by the end of the workshop they were able to imagine some wonderful cycling experiences, perhaps indicating a latent desire to ride a bike again - and the opportuntiy that exisits to capture people's imagination when it comes to the vision of a cycling city.