Rediscovering the joy of cycling with Connecting Communities

Audrey had always loved cycling as a child. However, as she got older and life got busier, she found that opportunities for her to cycle were non-existent.

She works in community development, visiting local community centres. Working within her local community, she felt it made sense for her “to try and do my bit for the environment”.

She also has problems with her knee and was waiting for an operation. She says: “A bike option was going to help me get back in the saddle to help me lose the necessary weight to allow me to have my knee operation.”

This is where Cycling UK’s Connecting Communities project could help. The programme meant she could borrow an electric bike on a long-term loan. This gave Audrey the chance to get back on a bike – at a pace that suited her.

“With e-bikes being expensive, the option to borrow one was amazing. This helped me get back into fitness as you are still using the muscles to pedal but have the support when needed for movement with the e-bike.”

Confidence to ride

The e-bike has meant that Audrey can now cycle to community centres she visits in local towns. “It was good to have the confidence to be able to cycle knowing that I had a powered back-up.”

But that’s not all: getting out on the bike has strengthened her knee and helped her lose 1.5 stones, helping her “meet my target to be able to be put forward for my knee operation”.

She now says that she loves cycling and will “save up to get an e-bike of my own in the near future”. She adds that “the support from Angie has been amazing, checking in, giving me guidance support and encouragement”.

On one journey home from work I took time to stand at the wall along the coast and watch dolphins playing. It was magical and totally lifted my spirits Audrey, Connecting Communities participant

Audrey is enjoying the feeling of achievement she gets from cycling, knowing that at the same time she’s improving her own health and that of the environment. She’s also finding that she’s less reliant on driving: “I am feeling more confident to jump on the bike as opposed to just jumping in a car.”

Saving money and social rides

Her increased travel options have saved her money as she’s no longer using her car “for just random journeys”. She’s also inspiring her friends to try out cycling, with the added benefit of improving all their social lives.

“Some of my friends who were watching me on my bike started discussing the use of cycle rides so this opened up more of a social aspect.”

Cycling when she was younger gave Audrey a sense of freedom, she says, and getting back in the saddle has given her the opportunity to plan in some ‘me time’.

She says: “It’s always difficult when work is stressful and time is swallowed up from chores but being out on the bike and seeing the nature and countryside, even routes that I didn’t know were local and taking in the views again – things you can’t see when you’re in a car or public transport.

“On one journey home from work I took time to stand at the wall along the coast and watch dolphins playing. It was magical and totally lifted my spirits.”

Improved infrastructure

One thing that has got better since she was younger, Audrey says, is access to cycling infrastructure. “We are very lucky in East Lothian to be blessed with so many cycle paths and the John Muir Way.”

However, the council has had to ban electric bikes from its buildings as its buildings insurance won’t allow them inside the buildings. Audrey comments that she thinks this is sad situation and that more people would surely have taken up cycle loans with Connecting Communities if this weren’t the case.

But, she says: “The team were fantastic, and I can’t thank them enough, especially Angie for her continued support to me personally.”

Connecting Communities receives funding from a Scottish government People and Place grant, administered and supported in the south-east of Scotland by SEStran.