When many of us take to our bicycles tomorrow for The National’s second Cycle to Work day, it will be a different experience to a year ago. For a start, there will be more participants, with people from all walks of life pledging to leave their cars behind for their daily commute. Cycling infrastructure in our main cities is also more advanced than it was at the beginning of 2014.
But more than anything, what has changed in the past 12 months is the perception of cycling. It is fair to say there was a degree of scepticism in some quarters when we launched Cycle to Work day. The opposition was along the usual lines: that the roads are too dangerous, the climate is unsuitable for most of the year and cyclists needed to be segregated from cars for this to be a feasible form of transport.
The mental factor is often among the more intractable elements of any shift in behaviour. It’s not as if the benefits of cycling are unknown – it is efficient, bicycles of a quality good enough for commuting are affordable, and cycling is an excellent way to get exercise that is aerobic without involving high impacts on knees and other joints. The weather at this time of year, with clear sunny days and moderate temperatures just about guaranteed, is something cyclists in other parts of the world covet.
But revolutions – whether of a bicycle wheel or a way of thinking – usually start slowly. The real benefit of last year’s Cycle to Work day was to begin that process of reassessing the prospects of cycling as a viable activity.
There is an element of self-fulfilling prophecy in this: as more people cycle, more drivers and other potential cyclists will see them. Drivers will become more aware that there could be cyclists in their midst and drive accordingly, would-be cyclists will feel more comfortable taking to the streets and the municipalities will respond to the increased interest in cycling by channelling more funds into creating dedicated cycling paths.
Of course, there remains a lot of work to be done – such as educating cyclists, drivers and pedestrians about how to stay safe – but the process has begun and cycling is becoming increasingly embedded into UAE life, to the benefit of both less-congested roads and also our waistlines. That, if you’ll pardon the pun, would be the ultimate virtuous cycle.