Lockdown London brings out large number of cyclists

In this period of lockdown people have made the most of the rules allowing us to go out once a day for cycling, running or walking. Suddenly large numbers of joggers are pounding the streets and parks up and down the country. My local park which is normally empty first thing in the morning when I go running, suddenly has many other keen athletes who have had the same idea as me - getting in their runs while they can be socially distant from the dog walkers and other numerous park users.

Given that we can't travel out of our neighbourhoods the roads are suddenly eerily devoid of vehicles. In my neighbourhood there are key workers like supermarket delivery vans, utility engineers, dustbin lorries, postmen and women, plus buses. But there are hardly any private vehicles.

Then when you go into central London the place is even more deserted. Trafalgar Square at 1pm on a week-day looks more like 7am on a Sunday morning. It's extraordinary.

So with such quiet roads, that has led to one thing - so many people are getting their bikes out. People of all ages and abilities are going out cycling - either one their own, with a member of their household, or as a family (as per the Government rules).

London has become Amsterdam - or even Copenhagen. Yes, I have even seen people on cargo bikes carrying their children. Mind you, that was in leafy burbs like Dulwich and Richmond.

It was even striking that when taking my bike to the repair shops for for tweaks I was turned away as the shop was already overwhelmed with so many bookings for bike servicing.

When I have ridden through central London recently I have been quite blown away by the number of cyclists wending their way around Westminster, Camden, Islington, The City.

It makes me want to quote something allegedly said by HG Wells, "Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race."

Or to quote another inspirational figure, John F Kennedy, "Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride."

For sure it's a great pleasure to ride through London on days like these, and I am determined to make the most of this opportunity during the lockdown. It certainly adds a chink of brightness to London - despite the gloomy veil of coronavirus hanging over us.

Notably, the World Health Organization recently advised that people consider cycling or walking whenever feasible, as a way to maintain social distancing and  meet the minimum exercise requirements since we are spending a lot of time at home. Details on active transport are giving in it's information sheets on Moving Around during the COVID-19 outbreak.

There has been talk of more pop-up cycle lanes being installed in London as a way to encourage more people to choose cycling as a mode of transport, in a hope that social distancing on the public transport network can still be maintained.

To facilitate cycling in the post-lockdown period the Transport Minister, Grant Shapps announced some new measures. The government plans to install pop-up bike lanes with protected space for cycling, wider pavements, safer junctions, and cycle and bus-only corridors in England as part of a £250 million emergency active travel fund. This is the first stage of a £2 billion investment, as part of the £5 billion in new funding announced for cycling and buses in February.

In London the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has said that new measures would include temporary cycle lanes along Euston Road and Park Lane, an upgrade to existing cycles lanes, as well as pavements being widened at 20 locations including Brixton and Earl's Court.
This all sounds positive news and I hope that the authorities do honour their pledge.

Furthermore, various organisations and shops are providing bicycles or cycle support to key workers (people employed mainly in the NHS, schools, supermarkets, and others providing key services).

Brompton have provided free bike hire of its folding bicycles for NHS workers, and Cycling UK via funding from the Department for Transport are providing grants to independent bike shops and mechanics to provide free bike maintenance and parts.

In any case, the weather in London has been glorious these last few months, and even on the current network, the facilities are there for people to ride their own bike or a Transport for London bike. So it is worth getting out on two wheels on London streets these days - all while maintaining a social distance, of course.


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Women of Colour cycling group - is it necessary?

Look Mum No Hands! Cafe in London holds various types of events and regular meet-ups. One group they have formed is a Women of Colour meet-up. The first meeting was held in December of last year, and another meeting took place a few days ago. It will now become a monthly event.

First Women of Colour cycling group at Look Mum No Hands

I went to the first one, as I was a little curious to see how the meet-up went, and as someone who likes to meet different people in cycling I was looking forward to meeting new folks. Also, being an experienced bike rider and someone quite involved in the cycling community I was looking forward to sharing lots of information about the cycling scene and giving tips to anyone wanting advice.

This group was an initiative borne out of an article written by a woman who bemoaned the fact that she hardly saw any women of colour when she took part in the Ride London 100 last summer. She also claimed to have encountered white MAMILS (middle-aged men in lycra) who gave her "uncomfortable gazes" at the cycle event, or "microagressions" from white males as they overtook her when commuting.

This was then picked up on by the likes of Jools Walker (aka Lady Velo), Jenni Gwiazdowski and Ayesha McGowan, an Afro-American bidding to become the first black female professional racer, who felt that there was a need to group together black women who don't feel that they can get into cycling because they don't see anyone who looks like them.

As someone who has known Jools since 2011, when I interviewed her at the Tweed Run cycle ride for Cycling Weekly magazine, I felt I would support her cause, so I attended the event. (I arrived a bit late as I had been at fitness class that evening.)

There were quite a few women, including Ayesha McGowan who linked up to the meeting from her home in the United States via Skype. Although I missed the early part of the meeting it seemed that a lot of the women talked about how they never received encouragement to get into cycle riding, and felt uncomfortable when they did group rides because they didn't feel they identified with anyone.

Some felt they were ignored, and didn't feel confident about getting involved; others talked about being passed over by marketing companies to become brand ambassadors, or that black women cycling are not represented in the media.

While I believe every word of what the women say, I still find it hard to say that there is a racial or discrimination problem, or even that black women are excluded from getting into cycling.

That has not been my experience at all, and I have never perceived any barriers to entry or discrimination.

No one in my family was particularly into cycling apart from me. My dad bought a Peugeot bike in the 80s and I had a go on it a few times, but generally my parents didn't like me cycling. I have two sisters, neither of whom ride a bike and have never shown a particular interest in doing so even though they are aware of all the activity I do on two wheels.

I grew up in an area where we were the only black family. There were local people who were happy for me to join their cycling groups, however I didn't have the means to join in as they would meet up far from where I lived.

My dad wouldn't let me use his bike, and in any case living in a remote village in Yorkshire with no public transport, where the nearest cycling group was 10 miles away, meant I couldn't join in. My parents were certainly not going to let me cycle all the way there. And there was no way they would encourage me, as a teenager to ride on public roads. They were quite against the idea of "serious cycling".

Over the years I did bits and pieces of cycling, as described in my 52 Cycling Voices, and eventually got into regular club cycling almost 20 years ago and have really enjoyed it since. Various people have given me support and encouragement with my cycling - men, women, black people, white people, including MAMILS!

Through cycling I got into journalism and testing out kit for brands. It is true that I have only seen a few black men out cycling, and practically no black women, but I never saw it as a problem and I assumed that if they were interested in cycling they would have come along to the different activities. After all, I was taking part - and if I could take part, anyone can. The number of black women in cycling is slowly increasing now though.

The thing is, I still can't say that the lack of black people cycling should be a barrier to entry.

In fact the biggest barriers I have faced were from my own folks! My parents did not want me to ride, thinking it was too dangerous. My dad always used to say people who cycle on public roads just want to kill themselves!

My mum couldn't understand why anyone would want to ride more than a few miles if they could travel around by car. Black women that I met when I moved to London found it a bit strange that I would like to ride a bike. At dinner parties, mentioning bike riding was more of a conversation stopper!

Dinner party host: "Did you find the place okay?"
Me: "Yes, I cycled over - it was quite straightforward."
Dinner party host: "Hmm.... I never understand cyclists - they always get in the way on the road."

When I was growing up, getting around by bicycle was seen as something you did because you didn't have access to a car. Doing recreational bike riding as a child is fair enough. But cycling around as an adult was just a sign of failure - that you hadn't managed to find a job that paid you enough to buy a car! Moreover, people wanted to show off their wealth by having a decent car. Not a Ford or a Hyundai - an Audi or BMW at least!
My parents just didn't understand the concept of cycling as a sport, and they were not the only black people to think like that. It just seemed to be a cultural thing to not specifically opt to ride a bike as a mode of transport or for leisure. Some black men would consider it - my dad was among those since he did buy a racing bike - but black women would never dream of doing it.

I would say this cultural tendency was a bigger barrier to entry for me, than any white MAMIL! I too have done the Ride London 100 a few times, and never got any strange looks from anyone. In fact for a while I joined a chain of guys who didn't mind me being there and I hung on until my legs turned to lead after Leith Hill!

Finish line of the 2017 Ride London 100 

People have been saying "if you can't see it, you can't be it," meaning that you can't become something if you don't see people who look like you doing it. I can't say I identify with that phrase at all.

Fair enough, if I had seen other black women cycling I may or may not have found it inspiring. In any case, there were no such sights when I was a child. (If there had been, what is there to say that another black woman is "like me". Just because we are both black doesn't mean that we are the same, or have anything in common!)

How would a white man feel if they were told that they looked like Nigel Farage or Prince William or Brad Pitt! Or white woman being told she looks like Katie Price, or Adele or Fiona Bruce. No one would ever lump all these people into one unit and say that they look like each other. So why folks refer to black people in similar terms just has me at a loss. Anyone who says black people all look like each other would be accused of being racist, but yet this is the premise that is being used when discussing getting into cycling. And as for forming a group based on people's colour - really?

I still got inspired into bike riding when I saw a few of the young local men on road bikes around South Yorkshire, or the men on TV riding the Tour de France.

These Italians, Spanish or Irish guys who looked nothing like me still made me dream of riding up a mountain pass in Europe - and I eventually did so for the first time on a Graham Baxter Sports Tours training camp in Spain in 2000. I was the only black person in the party of around 60 participants, but it didn't bother me one jot. And I had fun on that trip.

At no point did I ever feel that I should join a group of other black female cyclists, or black cyclists. I have only ever been interested in joining groups of pleasant people I can get on with, who have similar interests to mine. I find it hard to see how being black and female would be the basis for forming any group.

There are various statistics around cycling. According to Cycling UK, in 2017 4% of the population rode their bike more than once a week, and 5% rode between two and five times a week.

White people were three times more likely than people of South Asian and Chinese origin to cycle more than three times a week, rising to four times more likely than people of black origin.

Another Cycling UK survey reported 8% of women in the UK describe themselves as regular cyclists (compared with 20% of men). So the figures for black women who cycle, will naturally be very low.

There are various explanations for the low number of women cyclists; it can be because of such issues around confidence and negative experiences on the road from motorists - things which aren't race-specific.

A survey by Transport for London did cite family responsibilities such as caring for children and other family members as a barrier to cycling for some ethnic minority women.

I am not querying these statistics, but for me the bottom line is and will always be about not allowing reports and statistics to bog me down, and just getting out there and doing the thing I want to do.

As for the other points around representation, brand ambassadors or finding cycling groups where one can feel comfortable, there are various responses to that.

Transport for London marketing photo

On representation: Many years ago, when I first got into racing, British Cycling published a full-page photograph of me in action in their events calendar. I was wearing full club kit, with my race face on. It was quite a shock to see my mug plastered next to "March", but one can't say I was invisible!

Some years after that I was photographed along with a few others as part of a marketing campaign for the old Sky Rides. I regularly see photos of black women in Transport for London's marketing materials on cycling.

Plus, as a writer for the former Time Inc magazine, Cycling Active I was regularly featured in photo shoots to accompany the feature articles I wrote.

So I find it hard to say there is no representation. In fact, considering that black people make up only 5% of the UK population, and black women represent an even lower number than that, it wouldn't be realistic to expect to see loads of women of colour in a campaign - particularly as so few ride a bike anyway.

If black women would want to see themselves represented more in cycling campaigns, then more black women need to get out on their bikes. The facilities are available for them to take up cycling.

There are Breeze Rides, Cycling UK rides, Regional women's cycling groups on-line forums, and a Velovixen forum specifically for women cyclists. There is no reason for any woman to say there are no opportunities to cycle - regardless of race.

I, myself set up a women's local cycle racing group with some other women in 2010. We appealed to women of all levels to join, and we organised rides for beginners too. We marketed this on-line and through the cycling media, but no black women turned up. Now I was racing at the time, and was regularly photographed racing, as well as writing updates about the races in the cycling media; therefore one can't say I was invisible.

So much for "If you can't see it, you can't be it"! There was every possibility for those black women who wanted to try cycling, to have a go - particularly as we had groups for beginners.

As for ambassador programmes - that is extremely competitive for anyone who applies. With hundreds of applicants, the odds of being selected are always going to be stacked against you, particularly as marketing managers want to see specific evidence that an individual's cycling activity fits with the essence of their brand, as well as them having a social media following. There are plenty of white people whose applications are rejected!

Getting into club cycling and doing it regularly is not especially easy for anyone, regardless of gender, race or the level people would like to achieve. You may well have to go out of your comfort zone at times, as well as reading and researching around the subject.

That is just part and parcel of trying any new physically demanding activity. I am not saying that prejudices and issues don't exist in society, but I am inclined first to remember that we have a responsibility to put in the effort if we want to achieve an outcome, and we shouldn't be so quick to attribute difficulties in progressing, to society somehow excluding groups of people.

So from a personal standpoint, a specific cycling group for black women isn't really necessary. Such groups that set me apart because of my colour give me a feeling at best that I have some sort of special need because I'm not like other folks (which I don't believe is the case), and at worst someone is trying to bring back Apartheid!

I won't completely rule out going along to these meet-ups if there are specific people I would like to talk to there.

However, I am not interested in joining a moan-fest of people talking about being downtrodden, excluded, second class citizens, the struggle, blah blah blah.

At the meet-up there was talk of organising rides, and I would be happy to do some - though my rides will be defined by the terrain, route and level/speed, and not by people of a particular race or colour. They will be open to any woman (or man even) who wants to come along.



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Should cyclists really be banned from dual carriageways?

Recently there has been a furore over plans by Highways England to ban cyclists from using the main road that leads into the city of Hull, the A63. For those who don't know the area, it is the road that the M62 leads into when the motorway comes to an end. It is a dual carriageway with an initial speed limit the same as the motorway, 70 mph, and then later reduces to 50mph.

In the last five years there have been six collisions involving cyclists, including one fatality in 2013 along this road (compared with 297 collisions involving vehicles over the same period). On that basis Highways England has deemed the road to be dangerous for cyclists and has proposed a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) prohibiting them from using this stretch of road. This proposal has received the support of Humberside Police and Hull City Council.

A63 trunk road to Hull

The 15-mile stretch of the A63 within the proposed banning area at North Cave includes the whole of a 10-mile time trial course, known as V718. It is quite a popular race venue, particularly as club cyclists say it's the fastest time trial in the country, so lots of potential for personal bests. I guess riding in the slipstream of the various trucks as you go on a slightly downhill stretch will have that effect! The V718 course has welcomed Olympic champions such as Joanna Rowsell and Bradley Wiggins, as well as Commonwealth champion Alex Dowsett, who at one point held the national 10-mile record.

Naturally, cycling organisations and club cyclists are outraged at the prospect of losing the opportunity to ride on this road. Indeed Cycling Time Trials, the governing body for time trial races have put out a statement opposing the proposal. Opposition has been echoed by Cycling UK, as well as British Cycling who put out a statement jointly with Welcome to Yorkshire.

As well as protestations from other cycling groups including Hull Thursday  Road Club, Cycling Weekly magazine commented on how a decision to ban cyclists from this type of road would be a "terrible move". Furthermore, for local residents in the Welton, Melton and Brough area, including priest and blogger Graeme Holdsworth who cycle between these villages to get to work, a cycling ban would significantly affect their travel options for getting to work.

The TRO is currently in a consultation phase and objections to it must be received by 19th February.

While there have been various protestations on social media, this does seem to be a hot-potato subject as opinion isn't all one-way traffic.

A number of cyclists have expressed concern at the notion of cycling along a road that may as well be a motorway, given that it is merely the M62 in all but name. The road contains trucks making their way to the port in Hull, as well as folks travelling in the opposite direction, to Manchester and other parts of the country, all travelling at speeds in excess of 50 mph, and probably significantly higher.

I regularly drive on this road when I travel to Hull or East Yorkshire and I must say it really isn't a road I would want to be cycling along. When I see cyclists on the road I immediately think they are on some sort of a death-wish!

On a few occasions when cycling on local trails or country lanes I have had to either cross the A63 or ride along it. Thankfully there was a segregated cycle path on the part I was on.

On one Saturday afternoon I pootled along the cycle path parallel to the trunk road at the same time as local cycle racers with numbers pinned on their backs zoomed past me during a time trial. I did not envy them, particularly as it was a windy day and they wrestled their bike into a straight line while traffic rumbled by.

Now, that is my impression of the road. As keen a cyclist as I am I avoid the A63 as much as possible. Having said that, I think that cyclists should still be free to ride on that road if they wish, and I think that it would be a sad precedent if a popular event like the V718 time trial were lost because Highways England preferred to ban cyclists rather than put in place more safety measures for cyclists.

It is worth noting that a TRO was approved on an 8-mile section of the A19 dual carriageway near Teesside in 2015.

In 2016 a local resident in Leatherhead submitted a petition to Surrey County Council proposing to ban cyclists from the A24 dual carriageway between Dorking and Leatherhead. The Council rejected the proposal on the grounds that a ban would not support their overall strategy of making cycling inclusive within the local authority. This road, which was part of the London 2012 Olympics route for the cycle race, and is part of the route of the Ride London cycling events has benefited the local economy by bringing a lot of cycle touring to the area.

On publication of the news of the proposed TRO in the Hull Daily Mail, its readers were polled, asking if they thought cyclists should be banned from the A63. One thousand people were surveyed, and 77% of respondents replied "yes" while only 23% were opposed to banning cyclists. 

Those wishing to send in their objections to the proposed Traffic Regulation Order have a wee bit of time.

Latest news: Deadline has now been extended to March 12th. Objections to the proposed ban should be made via hard copy. However, you can do this via Cycling UK and they will prepare the papers to send in your objection.

Deadline for submissions is February 19th 2018
Write to:
The Office of the Director
Operations Directorate (Yorkshire & North East)
Highways England
3rd Floor South, Lateral
8 City Walk
Leeds LS11 9AT.
Ref: The A63 Trunk Road (North Cave Interchange to Daltry Street Interchange - Prohibition of Cyclists Order)