Style Over Speed

Opinion piece from one of the Cycling City Team. Got something to say? Let's hear it!

I don't get the hype and insistence for people who think cycling is sport... all of the time. My guesstimate is that 99% of people who ride a bike in Britain are not in it for the 'sport', yet probably 80% of people who ride a bike have bought a bike designed for exactly that. Why is there such a stigma for those that buy a 4x4 only to drive it around town? Surely the same analogy could be extended to those who own a mountain bike - the closest to 'off road' or ascending a mountain will have been carrying it up the steps to store it in the front porch.

Then comes all the kit and caboodle that goes with such machines - the Lycra - oh the Lycra! And then there's the day-glow clothing and overshoes... Overshoes! I was cycling up the railway path on my way home from work last night and a chap on a racing bike shot past me in the full get up - with his pump and puncture repair kit stuffed into little pockets on the back of his shirt. All I could think of was 'where does he put his sandwiches?'...

Don't get me wrong - I get the whole sport bit... and the fetishism that goes into owning such machines. I own a mountain bike, and a touring bike - but I use them for the purposes for which they were intended - usually wearing clothes that are appropriate for the task at hand. However I don't, and won't wear head to toe Lycra for my 3 mile commute, although I know plenty that do. I have a town bike which would make me look pretty daft if I were to wear any form of tight fitting clothing. It's a completely different ethos to the hundreds I see on a daily basis hunched over their handlebars - bums in the air. I sit up - a simple undertaking, but one that gives you a far better view of the road/path ahead. All your weight isn't sat on top of the handlebars - so the ride is far more comfortable and super smooth.

Since Cycling City started I've seen far more women on bikes... period... but also more women on sensible bikes - with baskets (and a recent survey backs up that most of our new cyclists are women). Raleigh Shoppers are in vogue again - which is great. It stuffs any argument that any gadgety bloke (and I count myself in this category too) has about 'more gears = better bike' when they're overtaken by a woman wearing a skirt on a 3spd Shopper with a basket on the handlebars! The argument's gone - completely lost!

I'd love for there to be more bikes like mine around - sensible bikes with chain guards and internal gears and mud guards so you don't have to tuck your trousers into your sock to avoid the oil and mud or arrive with spray up your back. I don't need to tear around the city at 30mph on a racing bike - I just make sure I plan my time properly - and get there a little slower. But that does mean that when I arrive where I'm going I'm not dripping in sweat - and I'm not dressed like a road warrior.

There is a role that the bike industry in this country must answer for - coming back full circle to the bit at the beginning about cycling = sport. If you're lucky you might find one or two bikes in the corner of your average bike shop that would fall into a sensible category... everything else will be (probably) a mountain bike or a racer. Neither of which are particularly sensible. If these were cars they'd all be cheapo sports cars and 4x4s that run for a couple of years and die. We've got to start believing that the trips we all make around town aren't sport. We don't dress up to walk to the shop for a pint of milk - so why should we if we if we go by bike?

Cycling is transport... let's get the bikes fit for the purpose.