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In March 2020, around the world, shed doors started creaking open. Venturing into the gloom, people squeezed past old mowers and musty-smelling camping kit to get to that seldom-visited back corner.
They emerged dragging their prizes — long-neglected contraptions which were suddenly one of the most sought-after possessions in the land.
In the midst of a truly terrible time, we turned to bicycles for relief from boredom, stress and, in some cases, grief. We rode to work and for exercise, to mentally escape, and to keep our children entertained. It was the unlikely start of a collective journey that has the potential to change our lives, our country and our planet.
Cycling has been a salvation for many with other forms of exercise restricted by the pandemic
What prompted millions around the world to make that choice — to take up an activity that many hadn’t considered for decades and that for others was an entirely new experience?
When the first lockdown came it didn’t just change our way of life, it changed the environment we live in overnight. We stepped outside our front doors to a different world. With no traffic speeding past and no planes overhead, for the first time in years we could hear birdsong. Even the air tasted cleaner – because it was – but the most striking change of all was the absence of fear.
The space outside our houses, indeed the whole neighbourhood, had become a more welcoming space. For millions of us, suddenly a bike ride seemed appealing and, for myriad reasons, people young and old set off under their own steam because they were no longer worried about what might greet them on the road.
The Government’s own statistics show just how starkly our streets have changed. In the last 10 years, traffic on side roads and residential streets has increased by 24 per cent. That’s a staggering 20 billion more miles being driven past our front doors than a decade ago.
The space outside our homes has stopped being a place for living and been co-opted as part of our transport network without any consultation. It’s an insidious change that has increased pollution and made playing outside or simply walking or cycling to school a dangerous thing to do.
It has robbed us of the right to travel without cars and pushed us to rely on them, even for local trips, even more. It took a global pandemic to highlight what we have done and given us a chance to take stock. Overnight, global traffic was almost entirely turned off. By hitting the pause button for a few months we got our streets back and in doing so, we got to experience a different way of using our public space.
The pandemic has given people a chance to experience less polluted and traffic-free roads
We quickly realised — or remembered — that exercise was something we could do right outside our doors and that when the environment isn’t intimidating, the vast majority of people, regardless of age or ability, could use bicycles for day-to-day errands. We discovered that many of the things we drove to, like sports facilities, parks, shops and workplaces, were all within reach without driving when we felt safe.
We witnessed our children enjoying the journey and we could enjoy it with them, connecting and chatting as we trundled along. We had a shared experience — this was common ground, something we did together. Most importantly, we learned that not driving made us happier and that, maybe, the right to ride is something we should fight to keep.
Whether for exercise, entertainment or transport, if we keep moving around on two wheels post-pandemic, the benefits are clear.
Chris Boardman is calling for the government to give more children the chance to be active
Not everybody has to start riding everywhere for everything, but every person who does represents a saved space on public transport for those that really need it and each car journey we don’t make shortens the queue at the traffic lights for those that have to drive.
We can reduce pollution levels dramatically — as we did last year — and more people would meet the recommended levels of physical activity by simply going about their daily life. Just a few minutes of moving actively each day adds up to tens of thousands of calories a year, bolsters our immune system and helps us to better manage our mental wellbeing.
In the past year we have altered our lives to protect the NHS and save lives, but that need not end with the pandemic. Supporting people to lead more active lives will protect the NHS now and in the future while at the same time providing us all with more pleasant places to live, work and play.
Marcus Rashford’s brilliant campaigning on child food poverty changed government policy
Marcus Rashford has quite rightly earned praise for his work to ensure fewer children are going hungry. We now need to match that effort so that children have more opportunities to be fit and active too. That means more freedom for kids to play out like we used to do, including quieter streets with fewer cars, and the ability for all to take part in sport both inside and outside school.
If you want to protect yourself and your family, to really protect the NHS, then keep riding through the pandemic and out the other side. Support proposals for local cycle tracks and other changes that will enable you to keep riding and propose others that you want to see to your local councillors. Get behind campaigns to secure more and sustained funding for grassroots sport for kids.
2020 was the year cycling went viral and the more it spreads, the more all of us stand to benefit.
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