Cycling Scotland: ‘Dramatic’ increase in adults wanting to learn how to ride a bike – including Glasgow City Council transport convener

Bike for Good and Cycling Scotland among bodies helping to boost training

"Some are very apologetic they never learned – and are really, really embarrassed.”

Cycle trainer Gail Murray is being kept busy by the perhaps surprising demand from people keen to ride who never had the opportunity as a child or haven’t been on a bike since.

The active travel department lead at cycling group Bike for Good’s Glasgow West branch said she had seen a “dramatic” increase in adults signing up for lessons since the Covid pandemic lockdowns, whether because of the attraction of quieter roads and the growing cycle path network, fitness concerns or a cheaper way to travel because of the cost-of-living crisis.

A cycling lesson for adults run by Bike for Good in Glasgow. Picture: Bike for Good

One of those receiving tuition is an unexpected candidate – the person responsible for taking decisions on cycling in Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow City Council’s transport convener Angus Millar.

He told The Scotsman: “I had lost the confidence and skills to get on a bike. I had a bike when I was a child, but was not very athletic or energetic and just fell out of cycling by the age of about nine.”

Mr Millar, 29, took some “refresher” cycling lessons last year when he became responsible for active travel – cycling, walking and wheeling – at the council – after two decades out of the saddle. He said: “I felt I was a bit of a hypocrite not taking the opportunity of wanting to try another way of getting around.

"I felt I needed to take advantage of that myself and practised what I preached – I was embarrassed I did not have the confidence to get on a bike and get involved”. He said he was also very conscious his predecessor, Anna Richardson, had been a “fantastic advocate for cycling”.

Glasgow City Council transport convener Angus Millar, right, being taught to cycle by Bikeability instructor Tim Pearson. Picture: Glasgow City Council

But Mr Millar admitted the prospect of cycling training had also been unnerving. He recalled: “Going into that lesson was a very daunting experience. As an adult, you are a bit nervous about learning outdoors as people can see you.

"It definitely took me more than the first one-hour lesson just to feel stable and confident, but after three I reached a turning point and gained basic confidence, and I got over my nerves.”

The councillor now counts himself as a leisure cyclist, including going out for bike rides with his partner at weekends, although he is sticking with public transport for commuting. He said: “I find it’s a really enjoyable way to get about.”

Others who have learned to cycle as adults include comedian and broadcaster Des Clarke, who took part in the 45-mile Glasgow to Edinburgh Pedal for Scotland event in 2018 shortly after gaining the skill, aged 37. He said: “I only learned to ride a bike that year, and just getting to the start line is one of my proudest achievements.”

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Cycling Scotland, the official development body, said it had provided funding to enable nearly 800 adults to develop their confidence and skills on a bike in 2020/21 – a 383 per cent increase on the previous year. Two thirds of the sessions were for “absolute beginners”, with women, who are under-represented among those who cycle, accounting for two in three of those taking part.

A total of 41 per cent of participants were from a “range of diverse ethnic backgrounds”. Cycling Scotland said research last year had found 38 per cent people said they were more likely to cycle if they were more confident.

A spokesperson for the organisation said: “More people than ever are learning to ride a bike in Scotland, through adult cycle training or Bikeability Scotland in school. Countries with the highest levels of cycling, such as the Netherlands, still provide national cycle training schemes for school children to learn to cycle and support adult cycle training as well.

"To enable more people to cycle, we need to build the network of cycle lanes separate from traffic and provide access to bikes, storage and cycle training. This is vital to help address the climate and health crises we face.”

At Bike for Good, one of the major cycle training for adults providers, Gail Murray said: “Since the Covid pandemic, awareness of cycling has grown exponentially and we are really, really busy.

"I could not count the number of adults who want to learn to cycle – and some feel embarrassed, thinking they are the last person in the world who can’t ride a bike”.

Ms Murray, who has been in charge of the organisation’s cycle training for the past four years, estimated thousands of adults still could not ride a bike. Courses range from beginners to training for cycle commuters, while lorry drivers are required to complete cycle lessons as a condition of gaining their licence.

There are also specific classes for women, non-binary people and people from ethnic minorities, which Ms Murray said were crucial because cycling had an image of being a white male activity. Other things putting them off included lack of money and a perception that cycling on roads was dangerous.

Ms Murray said the oldest person she had taught was a 64-year-old woman. She said: “She had never learned and wanted to cycle with her grandchildren in the park. After a couple of lessons, she was able to cycle about.”

Ms Murray said another woman she had taught had described the joy of cycling as an “endorphin release” and like “flying through the air”.

She said: “You see everything at a much slower pace and at 360 degrees, compared to in a vehicle, which is closed off with blind spots.”

Ms Murray’s training technique is telling participants to imagine their left foot is superglued to the pedal and push with their right foot on the ground. She said: “Some have taken ten minutes, some have taken ten sessions – but they all learned.”