Cycling Cultures blog

We launched the report yesterday at UEL Stratford – thanks to all who came, we hope you found it interesting and useful. It’s now available in pdf form here .

I’m currently writing two presentations and related papers (well, there’s more in the immediate pipeline, but there’s two that I am particularly working on right now).

These are on injury and gender (“ A transport system safe for men and other vulnerable groups “, with James Woodcock) and on cycling advocacy and activism ( two talks based on research I’ve been doing with Maria Bühner). Working on the LCC Big Ride survey spreadsheet, I was thinking of these presentations alongside work (mine and other people’s) on gender , cycling and identity .

Our survey asked people attending the LCC Big Ride to describe themselves as a cyclist; we had nearly 200 responses of which around 2/3 were from men and 1/3 from women. (Most respondents have been cycling for more than a couple of years, and cycle regularly.) Examining the responses, I looked for positive descriptions of skill, as I have argued elsewhere (in the paper that’s forthcoming in Mobilities ) that cyclists are under particular pressure to demonstrate that they are competent. As well as ‘competent’ itself, I looked for the words confident, assertive, experienced, expert, capable, and proficient, which I would see as part of a group of terms used to construct the ‘competent cyclist’. I looked for them used positively (i.e. not, for example, ‘I am not competent’!) within people’s self-descriptions.

Just over half of the men described themselves using these terms while just over a third of the women did so. But perhaps more interesting is the way people use qualifying terms (either reducing the impact of the ‘competency’ terms, or adapting them by association with other attributes or identities). Less than a quarter of the men qualified their positive description of their own skills in this way, but more than half the women did so. Some the qualifiers suggested a perceived failure to live up to dominant norms of ‘competence’ (as per the Mobilities paper), while others seemed to embody a struggle with those definitions and norms and a desire to adapt them to create different kinds of ‘competent’ cycling identities.

Examples of qualified descriptions:

Women:

Confident but still learning
Fairly confident slow urban cyclist
Unfit, slow, but quietly competent .
Experienced , cautious and fairly assertive
Slow (I ride a Dutch granny bike), fairly confident (I’ve had some of that free training from my council) and a rule-follower.

Men:

Fairly experienced ; calm
Experienced and assertive . Occasionally stupid.
Proficient , hates motor traffic.
Slow, competent and defensive
Experienced and tolerant

And some examples of self-descriptions that don’t have positive or qualified ‘competency references’:

A late-comer – to riding a tandem with my husband which I much enjoy & which is great for my fitness (I am disabled).
A non-aggressive cyclist, using the bicycle as an everyday form of transport around town
Pootle along non-lycra person on a bike
Law abiding and considerate with a mellow mojo but still faster than you!!
Slightly above average
I like cycling but I wouldn’t call myself a cyclist
Losing my nerve as I get older

The analysis continues…
(and yes, I’m sure you are faster than me )

I have been doing some online surveys, as part of a project on cycling advocacy and activism (with Maria Bühner).

One of the surveys asked people who joined the pop-up campaign Londoners on Bikes about their experiences of the campaign and views on cycling. One question was ‘How would you describe yourself as a cyclist?’

The answers are below…

100% cyclist
100% legal
8 mile commute in a suit
A commuter and leisure cyclist
A commuter who tries to take the sensible path through london on a daily basis
A competent but respectful commuter
A cycling cyclist!
A cyclist
A feminist cyclist – pedalling against the patriarchy
a happy agressive..
A happy one
a Londoner
A novice, but keen transportation cyclist
Absolutely
Addicted!
All-weather commuter + Recreation
average middle-aged slow
avid
Aware of my surroundings and considerate to other road users
beginner/intermediate – not that confident but would be if it were more like Amsterdam!!
born again cyclist. started commuting 2 years ago after 20 yrs off a bike.
careful, assertive and fairly experienced
careful, slow, respectful of pedestrians and scared of cabs and mad drivers
Casual A-B cyclists, no lycra!
Casual for pleasure
Casual/leisure/summer
cautious
Cautious
Cautious but confident
Cautious, confident
commited commuter
commuter
Commuter
Commuter
commuter
commuter
commuter
commuter
Commuter
Commuter
Commuter
Commuter
commuter
Commuter & family cyclist
Commuter & Leisure cyclist
Commuter & leisure rider
Commuter & lesiure riding
Commuter / Weekend rider
Commuter + leisure for health + environmental reasons
commuter and holiday cyclist
commuter and leisure
Commuter and leisure cyclis
Commuter and mother
Commuter and mountain biker
Commuter and recreational
Commuter cyclist interested in longer weekend rides
commuter on a bike
Commuter, and getting around practically.
commuter, female, cautiously speedy (on a road bike)!
Commuter, leisurely, it’s not a race
Commuter, long distance and passionate cyclist
commuter, recreational
Commuter, social
Commuter/transport cyclist
Competent
Competent daily cyclist but cautious
confident
Confident
confident
Confident and experienced.
Confident and rather aggressive for my own safety road bike rider
Confident but cautious
Confident but cautious.
Confident but sensible
confident but wise
confident commuter
confident in spite of London’s roads and traffic!
Confident, safe
Considerate to other road-users
Continental raised, cycled all my life since childhood
courteous commuter
Cycle a fair bit for work and pleasure
Cycle to get to work
Cyclist merely describes one of the many modes of transport I use
Daily commuter
Daily commuter cyclist
dutch cyclist
elderly
Employee
Enabled, healthier,happier,richer,more sociable.
Enthusiastic commuter and more.
Enthusiastic!
Every day transport
Everyday
Experience, considerate and careful.
Experienced
Experienced
Experienced
experienced
Experienced
experienced after many years of riding
Experienced amateur
Experienced and red light jumper
Experienced but probably cycle too fast. Generally courteous
experienced by cautious
Experienced commuter. Ex-fixed-gear rider.
Experienced fixed-gear rider, hot too!
Experienced long distance commuter
Extreme commuter doing as many trips with cycle as possible even outside work hours
fair weather
fair weather
Fairly experienced, commuter cyclist
Fast and law-abiding
Fast but lawabiding
fast but safe commuter
fast, safe, caring.
father
Focused
functional
Getting from A to B
graceful
Habitual
Happy
Happy, safe, aware
Hardened but happy
I cycle to get from A to B
I have a bike-based lifestyle & upright Dutch bike
I wouldn’t describe myself as a cyclist. I’m a person who uses a bike. Our mode of transport shouldn’t define us, and the word ‘cyclist’ dehumanises the person on the bike.
I’m not a cyclist – I’m a person who sometimes rides a bike (I also use bus, trains and even drive a car but that doesn’t make me a bussist, trainist or motorist!)
improving
Irregular cycling commuter on outskirts of SW London
joyful
keen
Keen
Keen and experienced
Keen but no lycra
Keen, and assertive.
Keen, happy, occasionally angry.
keenbean!
lapsed regularr…
Law abiding.
Law abiding/determined
law-abiding
Lightweight leisure cyclist!
middle aged !
Middle aged skirt wearing female
Militant
Mountain Biker
new cyclist
Non-lycra commuter cyclist. Slow and steady, always wearing helmet and lights. Its the only excercise I get.
non-lycra pootle along cyclist
not a cyclist as much as possible
Novice
Occasional
Omnicyclist
Ordinary
passionate
passionate
Passionate
passionate cyclist
Person on a bike
Pootler
Pro-cyclinig enthusiast and commuter
proficient
Progressive
Prosumer
Quick but courteous
racer/commuter/sometimes slow
Rapha glad, carbon frame, stylish, advocate
Recreational, one day a commuter, confident but not strong
Regular
Regular
Regular
Regular cyclist
regular, leisure, business
Ride as fast as possible but safety goes first
Routine, not a lycra clad racer
safe
Safe, aware of surroundings, irritated by pedestrians who don’t look when crossing the road!
Safely assertive
Short distance and shopping cyclist
Since moving to London: aggressive vehicular cyclist. Before London: I’m Dutch, with all Dutch cycling expectations.
slow and steady
Slow fair-weather cyclist
social
someone getting from a to b
Sometime commuter; leisure
Sporadic
sporty but safe
steady commuter and shopper
stress free and chilled. accident free.
Stylish
Sustainable and cost effective
urban cyclist
Use bike as fastest, healthiest means for short journeys
Utility / commuter
Utility and touring
utility cyclist
Utility/Tourist
Very cautious, just want to get where I’m going but not bothered about high speed
Wannabe Dutch
Weekday commuter and weekend distance rider.
Weekender 30 to 80 miles
Yes
yes, commuter/leasure not racer