I regularly ride a bike and for most of my adult life this has been my preferred form of transport, getting from A to B is often much quicker and convenient I find. I transported my daughter via the bike for much of her first 5 years and have also trained Betty to sit in a basket on my bike as shown in my very first blog post here back in November 2014. In recent years I have volunteered in a number of bike projects that have been set up to encourage more people to give cycling a go. There was an event held recently in Liverpool were some of the roads were cleared for cycling for four hours on a Sunday and there were opportunities for projects to promote themselves, all good; well not so actually as it was organised by SKY erstwhile of the Murdoch empire and hence in Liverpool I was aware that quite a few cyclist that I knew refused to participate with the ride because of the link.
I put my reservations to one side and went along to the event to promote the two projects that I am involved with; ONYA Bike and Liverpool Critical Mass. I’ll start with Critical Mass as I have been attending these activities for the longest, maybe five years during which I have made time most months to join a group of cyclists for an early evening group ride in the city centre. We meet at a set start point and slowly make our way through traffic requiring them to acknowledge our existence due to our extra numbers. The idea has been around for a number of decades, started in the US these monthly bike rides happen all over the world, sometimes getting thousands of attendees. In Liverpool it is a modest affair with between 10 and 50 attendees but I still feel that those who come on the ride experience a greater degree of confidence as a result. The other project is ONYA Bike, set up a couple of years ago in Kensington by Steve Faragher who I have previously blogged about here I have been helping out with for about nine months now. He organises bikes to be recycled and sold on cheaply via a shop he runs and also organises group rides twice a week to get people more confident in navigating the challenge of cycling in the city. Steve also runs Liverpool Community radio and last year invited me and my friend Al to come on a show he was doing called Four wheels gbad two wheels good to talk about our experience of cycling in Liverpool and Critical Mass, listen here for our discussions and thoughts on the subject.
So to the day; We were setting up our stall in an area in Sefton Park which is ideal for me, just a five minute cycle ride from home. Steve and other ONYA volunteers had a bit further to come but by ten we were set up with our flyers etc under a small gazebo ready to spread the word. I had brought along the Critical mass trailer which is a mobile PA, this is something that we pull along every month to provide a bit of fun and attention to our ride. We had it playing out some tunes most of the day and even took it out for a ride onto the roads to further advertise it; it does catch people’s eye and ears. Other projects exhibiting had their own USP’s; the local schools cycling proficiency trainers Bike Right had a obstacle course set out for the kids and some wild and wonderful cycles were in evidence designed to aid those with physical disabilities to get into cycling. I had a go on a low rider cycle, sat in a chair three inches from the ground, it’s probably the closest I’ll get to experiencing what it’s like to have a sports car.
I had lots of conversations on the day, the rain stayed off and people seemed in good spirits. The public seemed interested in our projects, ONYA were pledged a good few bikes to add to their stock of those needing a new home and people thought the monthly ride idea in the city was something they might like to try. What I realised in having these conversations and looking round at the dozen or so other projects advertising their wares that our make-up was a bit different than the others. Other projects had come from out of town or had paid staff delivering the sessions, we were a group of local people, volunteers primarily. Liverpool is often seen as a city that has a young vibrancy about it, what with the bars and night life culture but all too often when it comes to delivering services to the people of city, decisions are taken to contract out of town suppliers to provide these-the local vibrant businesses are nowhere to be seen. It means that the enthusiastic locals who get active on healthy initiatives do not stick around afterwards to get on the case of local councillors to passionately argue for their continuation when the life of such project's come to an end.
Liverpool’s infrastructure for cycling is woefully poor and it was no surprise to speak to people on the day whose bikes had a nearly new look about them. There were lots of people who it was obvious were very unsure and wobbly on their rarely used bikes. I believe there needs to be a massive change in investment in the environment and a change in the mindset of ordinary people for them to see cycling as a viable option to get from A to B in the city. I think small grass roots projects are the key to this; so please join me on the journey-not sure of the destination but i intend to have fun along the way.
I put my reservations to one side and went along to the event to promote the two projects that I am involved with; ONYA Bike and Liverpool Critical Mass. I’ll start with Critical Mass as I have been attending these activities for the longest, maybe five years during which I have made time most months to join a group of cyclists for an early evening group ride in the city centre. We meet at a set start point and slowly make our way through traffic requiring them to acknowledge our existence due to our extra numbers. The idea has been around for a number of decades, started in the US these monthly bike rides happen all over the world, sometimes getting thousands of attendees. In Liverpool it is a modest affair with between 10 and 50 attendees but I still feel that those who come on the ride experience a greater degree of confidence as a result. The other project is ONYA Bike, set up a couple of years ago in Kensington by Steve Faragher who I have previously blogged about here I have been helping out with for about nine months now. He organises bikes to be recycled and sold on cheaply via a shop he runs and also organises group rides twice a week to get people more confident in navigating the challenge of cycling in the city. Steve also runs Liverpool Community radio and last year invited me and my friend Al to come on a show he was doing called Four wheels gbad two wheels good to talk about our experience of cycling in Liverpool and Critical Mass, listen here for our discussions and thoughts on the subject.
So to the day; We were setting up our stall in an area in Sefton Park which is ideal for me, just a five minute cycle ride from home. Steve and other ONYA volunteers had a bit further to come but by ten we were set up with our flyers etc under a small gazebo ready to spread the word. I had brought along the Critical mass trailer which is a mobile PA, this is something that we pull along every month to provide a bit of fun and attention to our ride. We had it playing out some tunes most of the day and even took it out for a ride onto the roads to further advertise it; it does catch people’s eye and ears. Other projects exhibiting had their own USP’s; the local schools cycling proficiency trainers Bike Right had a obstacle course set out for the kids and some wild and wonderful cycles were in evidence designed to aid those with physical disabilities to get into cycling. I had a go on a low rider cycle, sat in a chair three inches from the ground, it’s probably the closest I’ll get to experiencing what it’s like to have a sports car.
I had lots of conversations on the day, the rain stayed off and people seemed in good spirits. The public seemed interested in our projects, ONYA were pledged a good few bikes to add to their stock of those needing a new home and people thought the monthly ride idea in the city was something they might like to try. What I realised in having these conversations and looking round at the dozen or so other projects advertising their wares that our make-up was a bit different than the others. Other projects had come from out of town or had paid staff delivering the sessions, we were a group of local people, volunteers primarily. Liverpool is often seen as a city that has a young vibrancy about it, what with the bars and night life culture but all too often when it comes to delivering services to the people of city, decisions are taken to contract out of town suppliers to provide these-the local vibrant businesses are nowhere to be seen. It means that the enthusiastic locals who get active on healthy initiatives do not stick around afterwards to get on the case of local councillors to passionately argue for their continuation when the life of such project's come to an end.
Liverpool’s infrastructure for cycling is woefully poor and it was no surprise to speak to people on the day whose bikes had a nearly new look about them. There were lots of people who it was obvious were very unsure and wobbly on their rarely used bikes. I believe there needs to be a massive change in investment in the environment and a change in the mindset of ordinary people for them to see cycling as a viable option to get from A to B in the city. I think small grass roots projects are the key to this; so please join me on the journey-not sure of the destination but i intend to have fun along the way.