Cycling has been a choice of transport for millions since many decades but rising income levels has taken the sheen off this humble machine. While health benefits of this activity is well documented – can it fit into affluent community living in modern cities?
Modern city lives leave little time for healthy socializing due to work pressure. While fitness is trending and people are spending more time in gyms or in front of screens taking online coaching but are we connecting with nature and more importantly with each other ? Each of us list of to-dos keep increasing all the time so finding more time is not possible so this is where community based activities like cycling may fit in.
Cycling can serve multiple purpose – it can be a great opportunity for families and communities to bond over a healthy activity. Cycling promotes better physical and mental health by helping individual connect with surroundings, nature while doing physical exercise.
So how to get community engaged?
– Make a community club on whatsapp (or any other app used by community), invite kids and parents.
– Start with a maintenance day to get their cycles dusted off and fit for riding.
– Call your local cycling shop to servicing the cycles and check for basic safety things like brakes, chains, loose bolts, chain oiling etc. This is important as an unpleasant experience (cycle break down) would cause many to loose interest.
– Invite members across age group and gender – most of us have cycled during our childhood so encourage residents of all ages to participate.
– Appoint two ride leaders who will do route review, select stopping/break points. Appoint a child to shadow the leader so child also gets excited and learns leadership skills. One leader should be leading while other one should be at the tail of group so no one is left behind. Leader should also learn how to do basic repair like puncture fixing, chain fixing and carry some spare tubes (although each cycle size may vary). Refer youtube videos for learning basic cycle repair skills.
– First do a short ride with intention of meet/greet, bonding to nearby park/lake or may be within the community itself.
– Plan together rides to nearby location of interest. Take help of apps like ridemygps, google maps and strava for places to visit.
– It is important to keep the rides short and fun initially so people don’t loose interest.
– Safety is paramount and since our cities do not have dedicated cycle lanes and traffic safety rules are non existent – prefer to start early mornings (when traffic is light). Select routes that avoid main roads. Children above the age of 12 and who are confident riders should be included for heavy traffic routes.
– Plan short breaks of tea/coffee, breakfast during rides to let team bond with each other.
– There are many cycling clubs in every city. Use apps like strava to reach out to your nearby group and plan rides together.
– Keep it consistent – its easier to start but difficult to keep it going. Rotate ride leaders so everyone gets a chance to go to their choice of location. Keep it interactive. To keep the momentum – define bigger objectives like cross country rides to popular destinations like beaches. Also agreeing on a social cause like donating to schools on the way can keep up the motivation.
Cycling is a great sport, activity and a catalyst for forging community bonds. It can help you explore unseen parts of city, discover nature spots that are inaccessible for cars, new food joints and make new friends. All this while making new friends and keeping your heart healthy. What more we can ask for. Happy riding!
Your opinions are welcome here – use comments section to voice them!
