Increasing participation in Cycling!!

lukejames88

Increasing participation in Cycling!!

Postby lukejames88 » Fri May 17, 2013 2:07 pm
Afternoon People!

I am in the middle of a project to raise the number of people cycling in the UK.

Could you please help me be successful by answering the following 2 questions for me.

1) Can you describe that feeling when you first learnt to ride a bike??
2) Who were you with when you achieved this and who did you share your adulation with??
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If you take a moment to reply, it will help no end, and hopefully have some more like minded people on bikes in the future!

Thanks in advance,

Luke.

rubertoe

You know your preaching to the converted right?

I cant remember what the feelings were, but i am sure it was exhilaration and it was a feeling shared with my mum.

meanredspider

Jeez - that's about 40 years ago or more probably!!!

jonomc4

better question - what did you feel like when you got on a bike again after so many years off it.

greg66_tri_v2.0

What are you going to do with these answers? Aggressively target 4 and 5 year olds, telling them about the joys that they're missing out on?

Initialised

I don't actually remember learning to ride. Maybe you should be asking about more recent strong positive experiences.

Kieran_Burns

1. Ow. OW.OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. My brothers. The bastards.

Agent57

lukejames88 wrote:

1) Can you describe that feeling when you first learnt to ride a bike??
2) Who were you with when you achieved this and who did you share your adulation with??

1) Nope. I'm 44 so it was more than 40 years ago, and I can't remember a specific "I can do it!" moment. Oddly, though, I can remember crying when I fell off while learning. I hurt my knee.
2) Was probably with my mum or dad

dhope

1) 'fraid not. I don't remember learning to ride. Then I probably had 20 years of not riding much/at all. Then I got into cycling in my mid-late 20s.
2) Parents I expect.

I got into it for a bit of fitness and to save money. Then I realised I liked it. Still haven't figured out if I'm good at it.

Agent57

dhope wrote:

I got into it [...] to save money.

How's that working out? Alvy's just posted a pic of his new bike on another forum I frequent. The flash git.

dhope

Agent57 wrote:

dhope wrote:

I got into it [...] to save money.

How's that working out? Alvy's just posted a pic of his new bike on another forum I frequent. The flash git.

Pretty sure I've not saved anything. Fitness is better though.

I've not seen his new bike yet. Funnily enough he was 'working from home' today... the git

veronese68

Strangely I remember it quite clearly even though it was a very long time ago. My elder sister and I both learnt on the same day in the back garden. My sister managed to get moving ok, tried to turn to avoid landing in the flower beds, but failed. I was told just to see if I could get myself moving and not to try to turn. I got going fine, made the turn and rode round and round the garden. Since then I have successfully fallen off many times.
My parents and my sister were there.

hegyestomi

I remember being put on a bigish bike: I remember rolling down from our porch, through the street (and looking at the driver who somehow noticed me and stopped) and then stopping promptly in the hedge belonged to our neighbour across. I had no idea how to brake without putting my foot down and boy my foot was miles away from mother earth.
Must have been my brother or maybe my father (then I'll have some word with him...)

Daz555

I was too young to remember and it is now far too many years ago.

hubgearfan

jonomc4 wrote:

better question - what did you feel like when you got on a bike again after so many years off it.

Apprehensive - a youth hostel trip in 2008 with 3 others to Brussels; hired Boris type bikes, hadn't ridden a bike for over 10 years. Smitten since with hub geared town bikes. Convinced that if we want greater numbers using bikes as transport - these are the way to go instead of racers, mountain bikes and single speeds, which are less practical but more popular in the UK.

meanredspider

hubgearfan wrote:

that if we want greater numbers using bikes .......... but more popular

To get more people cycling we should encourage less popular bikes....? It's a novel approach I suppose

hubgearfan

meanredspider wrote:

hubgearfan wrote:

that if we want greater numbers using bikes .......... but more popular

To get more people cycling we should encourage less popular bikes....? It's a novel approach I suppose

But changing tac if what you're doing isn't working fast enough isn't. Then again, town bikes appear to be getting more popular - Pashley's are working flat out I understand, whilst there's been a plethora of cheap BSO knockoffs, mainly aimed at women, with wicker baskets - probably not the best choice for everyday, as opposed to occasional use, I would have thought. And you've also got electric bikes - going by the increasing number of European manufacturers introducing these as well as their non-electric offerings.