The Purpose of Cycling
Kicking off our brand-new campaign, The Purpose Of Your Sport, we will take a dive into Cycling. Well, it makes sense after all with the UCI Track Cycling Nations Cup taking place this month as cycling fans flock to Glasgow to watch world-class racing.
Track cycling, with its high stakes and high speed, is one of the most exhilarating sports around. However, fundamentally cycling as both a sport and a pastime has so much to offer. From elite track and road cycling to mountain biking, BMX or simply using your bike for getting from A-B, it offers so much. We are talking broader holistic benefits around fitness, mental health and on occasions major sporting events can have a positive impact on society.
Around 10% of the adult population regularly participates in recreational cycling and the Department for Transport estimates that a typical ‘cycling city’ could be worth over £300 million to the NHS in healthcare cost savings!
But what is the larger purpose of cycling and what wider social impact does it have?
Our Heroes!
When it comes to the elite sporting scene, British Cycling holds a lot of prominence on the world stage, having produced several prolific cyclists for a number of years now. From Sir Bradley Wiggins to Jason and Laura Kenny and Sir Chris Hoy, while we are seeing profiles rise across the multiple disciplines of the sport such as BMX’s Bethany Shriever. Cycling has asserted its dominance in the elite British sporting landscape is only continuing to grow.
What comes with success? Generally, we like to think it inspires the next generation, increases participation etc.
After the 2014 Tour de France, the lasting impact of the event coming to Britain was described as ‘powerful’ and ‘unforgettable’ by British Cycling with over 95,000 people taking place in British Cycling registered events in regions touched by the Tour, with participation in the NGB’s programmes increasing by 64%.
Wonderful news and clearly there is some direct positive impact. The challenge is sustaining the ‘hype’ or ‘buzz’ – let’s just look at London 2012!
The Doom & Gloom
Whilst the sport of cycling on the global stage is hugely successful and having our icons and role models as influencers or inspirers, we can’t ignore the persistent challenges that keep popping up in the sport, across the entire pyramid.
Doping remains a prominent issue within the entire sport of cycling, as well as other such as athletics, weightlifting etc. British Cycling was not exempt when one of the team's doctors was found guilty of ordering banned testosterone in 2011. Furthermore, in 2017 allegations of bullying and discrimination came to light as one of the head coaches quit his post and a damming report uncovered behavioural issues that went left unaddressed for years. This has unfortunately still proven to be an issue in the sport as only this week Sir Bradley Wiggins bravely came forward with his experience of grooming from a coach at a very young age.
We’ve explored so many of the positives of the sport, yet you could argue that a lot of the hard work is somewhat wasted unless we create a safe environment for people to participate at all levels.
Stamping out abuse in its entirely will remain an issue in sport for years, however, and we are seeing progress of course, with many cases now being historical. But we need an environment where there are no more examples popping up.
Barriers
Other issues that cycling faces lie in everyday cycling and in grassroots sports. As a sport, there are still many hurdles that make it inaccessible to much of the population. Bikes are becoming increasingly more expensive and have become somewhat of a status symbol.
TFL research found that Cyclists in London are typically white, under 40, male, with medium to high household income, with the increase in cyclists being from existing cyclists that cycle more often, than a net increase.
There is not only an economic barrier, but a cultural barrier to why those of lower socio-economic backgrounds may not be able to take part in the sport.
Other challenges to participation fall down to safety concerns (road rage!), crime rates and theft and poor weather. Can’t do much about the rain though!
The National Travel Attitudes Survey (NTAS) found that 66% of adults over the age of 18 agreed that "it is too dangerous for me to cycle on the roads". The figure was even higher for women, at 71%.
Let’s look on the bright side
When looking at the purpose, of social impact of cycling – it’s a mixed bag. We aren’t going to come to a conclusion and haven’t the data to provide impact reports or anything like that.
However, to conclude, what we are seeing is that there is a lot of hard work being done here in the UK to improve and grow, and that will only increase in time. Campaigns from British Cycling such as #ChooseCycling are designed to support communities, commuters, and local councils to encourage more cycling as a mode of transport, to aid with health and the environment, are hugely positive streps and we can’t wait to see more of the impact from that.
Other campaigns include the ’Everyone Wins’ campaign which has aimed to make cycling more diverse, accessible and to increase participation by 2026. Cycling is working hard to address the barriers and improve D&I.
Whilst it feels somewhat remiss not to have dived deep into the environmental benefits, we just can’t keep going on! However, it goes without saying that cycling helps to protect biodiversity, creates less noise, air pollution and results in fewer emissions that are warming the atmosphere.
It’s also super for mental health, as all sport is!
With cyclists including, Dame Sarah Storey, Mark Cavendish and Bethany Shriever all nominated for the Laureus World Sports Awards happening this month, cycling is set to shine, alongside the UCI Track Nations Cup. There is so much cycling can do to benefit so many people, and much that can be done to reach more.
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