Lets get more people cycling

[steveindenmark]

I'll save @Stanleymidd the plane fare and let him in on Denmark's secret... hardly any hills.

I have hosted 2 RTW cyclists this year. Before the first one even got off his bike he said " Who the hell said Denmark doesnt have hiils". The second said after a rain soaked, headwind day. That it was ths hardest day cycling he had ever had. Apart from the West coast of Denmark, the rest of the country is undulating.... a lot. 😊🇩🇰

 

[DaveReading]

whether there are ways to encourage more road users to hope on bicycles instead of driving

That sounds like a bit of a forlorn hop to me.

 

[MontyVeda]

I have hosted 2 RTW cyclists this year. Before the first one even got off his bike he said " Who the hell said Denmark doesnt have hiils". The second said after a rain soaked, headwind day. That it was ths hardest day cycling he had ever had. Apart from the West coast of Denmark, the rest of the country is undulating.... a lot. 😊🇩🇰

I was surprised too at its rolling hills... (I've visited Zealand and Fyn) but cycling seemed far more commonplace where it's flat, i.e. in Copenhagen, than it did further west or on Fyn... and Denmark doesn't have proper hills.

 

[Drago]

Two sure fire ways to get more people cycling;

1. Carrot. Do something to stop the murderous behaviour that a small but significant proportion of motorised road users feel the need to indulge in, and thus remove one of the biggest objections for many.

2. Stick. Legislate against frivolous and unnecessary private car usage, and thus force people onto 2 wheels.

Anything else is nice, but while society remains so car-O-centric is just fiddling round the edges.

 

[MichaelW2]

We may not have cycling royalty but the PM and the leader opposition are both regular utility cyclists.

 

[MontyVeda]

Travel back in time and somehow ensure that every railway line that was closed was immediately converted to cycle/pedestrian use and forever funded and maintained by the ministry of transport.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Only allowing the choice of one type of bicycle will cause ructtions on here - search for N+1...

Agree, I have Road, Hybrid, MTB, and Roadster bikes - and I am not even interested in competitive cycling and don't consider myself to be a "hardcore" cyclist. Whilst the majority of the public may tend to own just one bike, there are a lot of us who own several, for lots of different reasons. Many weekend road cyclists have a worthless hybrid or MTB hack to leave locked up in town or at the station. It's way too simplistic to pigeon hole cyclists based on just one choice of bike type. There will be a lot of overlap.

 

[MontyVeda]

Agree, I have Road, Hybrid, MTB, and Roadster bikes - and I am not even interested in competitive cycling and don't consider myself to be a "hardcore" cyclist. Whilst the majority of the public may tend to own just one bike, there are a lot of us who own several, for lots of different reasons. Many weekend road cyclists have a worthless hybrid or MTB hack to leave locked up in town or at the station. It's way too simplistic to pigeon hole cyclists based on just one choice of bike type. There will be a lot of overlap.

I object to being pigeon holed as a cyclist... I'm a person, not a mode of transport

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Learnt to ride a bike before the age of four. You need an earlier age category for that. You don't have utility cycling as a main form of cycling, i.e. going shopping by bike. Like others I have bikes that fall into more than one category. You don't list recumbents even though there are more of them than tandems (which also aren't listed). What about trikes? What about hand / adaptive cycles? Surprised you weren't asking how far people are typically riding on their outings. My needs for riding a long way are somewhat different to if I'm just popping to the shops.

 

[Profpointy]

Two sure fire ways to get more people cycling;

1. Carrot. Do something to stop the murderous behaviour that a small but significant proportion of motorised road users feel the need to indulge in, and thus remove one of the biggest objections for many.

2. Stick. Legislate against frivolous and unnecessary private car usage, and thus force people onto 2 wheels.

Anything else is nice, but while society remains so car-O-centric is just fiddling round the edges.

#1 above is absolutely key. The murderous behaviour of a small minority is a real problem, exacerbated by constant propaganda-of-hate from the Daily Heil gammons and the likes of Clarkson. Merely bad driving is a lesser risk in my view