#AndSheCycles campaign will showcase girls and women who ride bikes in St Andrews. It aims to address the challenges teenage girls and women face when cycling.
This month, we shine the spotlight on Lydia, Lecturer in School of Geography and Sustainable Development, who cycles to work every day.
We asked her a few questions, and here are her answers:
What’s the best thing about cycling and why?
Getting places powered by you! And at your own pace. It’s so satisfying overtaking vehicle traffic, and getting on your bike instead of having to wait for a bus. It often feels like an adventure cycling somewhere too, especially when you’re off the beaten track.
Are there any particular things that enable/motivate you to cycle to work?
My commute to work by bike is about seven minutes (six, if I’m late!) so for me, it’s a no-brainer to use a bike to get there. If my bike is at the bike doctor’s, I’ll walk. I’m fortunate and grateful to be physically able to get to work every day, powered mostly by bananas.
Do you think you are/would be stigmatised for cycling?
Apart from a few minor (if upsetting) incidences where vehicle drivers have voiced abuse at me whilst cycling, I’ve never felt stigmatised for cycling, and have generally had very positive experiences. I do have to keep an eye on drivers though, to ensure they do see me on the bike (whether wearing high vis clothing or not), as there have been a few near misses.
Do you feel safe cycling at night?
If I have my front and back lights flashing, and some high vis clothing on, I feel safe. However, I often do feel unsafe at night on the cycle path between St Andrews and Guardbridge, due to the lack of street lights, bright lights of on-coming traffic, uneven surface, and steep sides to some parts of the path. There are also some roads in Fife which I would avoid at night, because drivers likely won’t be expecting me and may be driving up to 60 mph (still within the speed limit on some roads).
If in 10 years’ time everyone in St Andrews cycled – what’s the one thing that would help this happen?
I think creating segregated, accessible and user-friendly (characteristics that do not always seem to be part of the design!) would be an excellent start. Many people don’t cycle/have stopped cycling because they feel unsafe on the roads. Although cycling in St Andrews feels a lot safer than cycling in London, which I did for the nearing five years I lived there, we don’t have clearly segregated, joined up cycle paths as London does, which can be transformational.
