What is going on in the world of cycling? There is a plethora of articles, surveys, blogs, tweets and information on cycling published every week. The profile of cycling is very high with the Olympics success, Boris’ bikes, Sky Rides and any number of cycling events happening every week. It would seem the whole of Britain is now riding a bicycle somewhere. However when I am out cycling in the countryside, seeing another cyclist is more a rarity rather than a regular occurrence so something is not quite right.
One thing for certain is that retail is booming with the market for sales, repairs and accessories estimated to be over £1.5 billion in 2010. Halfords estimate that Britons bought about 2.3million machines in 2010.
So lots of people in Britain own bikes, but just how many? A Department of Transport National Travel Survey published on September 30th 2010, estimated that 34% of the adult population aged 16+ owned bikes. That is about 14 million adults. If all of those bike owners cycled on the 20,000kms of the National Cycle Network on any one day that would equate to 700 cyclists per kilometre. Obviously bike ownership does not relate directly to bike use.
The same survey showed a sorry 1% actually used their bikes. That is about 400,000 adults which means something like 13.5 million bikes are never used. If all users were out on their bikes at one time over the National Cycle Network that would result in about 20 cyclists per kilometre. It is rare to see one cyclist on a trip let alone 20.
In contradiction, Sports England estimate that more than 1.8 million adults cycle for at least 30 minutes a week with the number of people cycling at least once a week rising by about 12%. I am not sure, however, if you can consider cycling 30 minutes in a week as a “regular” cyclist.
The attraction of traffic free cycling was demonstrated in a recent Sky Ride in Bath which had upwards of 5000 participants. The results of a survey of users of the National Cycle Network showed that 80% used the traffic free trails such as the Tarka Trail in Devon.
The “Team Green Britain Bike Week” (www.bikeweek.org.uk/index.php ) is promoting cycling events throughout the country during the week of June 18th to 26th. Last year they estimate that about half a million people participated in various events. So if you consider a large percentage of cyclists would actually participate, half a million cyclists seems throughout the UK would seem to be a reasonable number.
The CTC membership is made up of people who are very keen and enthusiastic cyclists and it’s membership is of the order of about 60,000. I would estimate from the British Cycling website that there are upwards of about 1200 cycling clubs in Britain. If each club has a membership of say 300 then that is another 360,000 keen cyclists. So total cyclists always pans out at around half a million.
There is also a clear distinction between cycling as a leisure activity and cycling as a means of transport. The recent study on how Britons travel to work concludes that about 3% cycled to work. Out of a working population of about 30million that equates to about 900,000 commuters cycling to work. This statistic will undoubtedly be very seasonal and weather dependent and it would be very interesting to see how that number varies during the year if there is any accuracy in the number at all.
A recent article in the Sunday Times suggested that in 2010 the number of cycle commutes for the year was 73 million. If you assume people commute to work every day of the year that is an average of 200,000 cyclists every day. If however you assume a 5 day working week then the average per day increases to 280,000 cyclists on the road. This number tends toward the number of regular cyclists being of the order of around half a million. We do not however get close to the high number of 900,000.
Critically, a recently published article by the Guardian suggests that years of Government efforts to promote cycling have had almost no impact on a population who view bikes as either children’s toys or the preserve of the lycra clad hobbyists. There are those who cycle and those who don’t and those who don’t is a very large number.
From a purely unscientific point of view if we consider leisure cycling, it is rare when I am out cycling to see other cyclists enjoying the countryside. On one trip of 1000kms through Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire and Devon we encountered maybe 5 other cyclists over the 10 days. Admittedly there are more cyclists visible on Sundays and on popular cycling trails such as the C2C or the Tarka Trail, but on an average day I see maybe 5 to 10 other cyclists on a 100km ride.
So what do I draw out of all this information? There is a cycling fraternity in the UK numbering in the hundreds of thousands who do cycle and love cycling. There is also, without doubt, a large pool of people (potentially in the millions) who like the idea of cycling but are put off by the perception that cycling is dangerous and hard work. Then there is the rest of the adult population who just do not cycle and never will cycle.
The UK does offer a fantastic cycling resource of quiet country lanes, picturesque villages, pubs, tea rooms, restaurants and quality accommodation. The trick is to somehow inform and educate the general public that such a resource does exist and is available. If you are interested, make a start and call us at Cycle Tours UK. We will start you on your journey of exploration.