When Alistair Crisp travels around Birmingham on his tricycle, he’s often quizzed by passers-by curious at his choice of transport . “I always encourage people to get one – there’s a bit of a community around it,” he says. Mr Crisp has dyspraxia – a condition that affects movement and coordination – but his trike gives him freedom.
It also offers “the ability to move around, to avoid the feeling of being cotton-woolled and hemmed in,” he says. Previously a teacher, his job now as Paths for Everyone project manager at walking, wheeling and cycling charity Sustrans is to look after the National Cycle Network in the region. “I’ve fallen on my feet here.
I’m getting out there talking to people. There are difficulties around perceptions of being disabled, but also loads of positives. ” READ MORE: Birmingham is not at war with motorists, Rishi Sunak – it is pro-safety and you’ve just set us back years POLL: Should Birmingham follow Wales and impose a 20mph speed limit on restricted roads? In his role he is also encouraged to contribute to future strategies and plans for the council and region.
Of Birmingham’s recently published ‘Our Future City Framework’ setting out a vision for the city by 2040, he wants more disabled people included. He lives beside a dual carriageway in Quinton, and worries about the impact of the heavy traffic on his daughter, who has asthma. Alistair Crisp sets off on his trike He wants to help the city’s residents achieve ‘mode shift’ – getting commuters out of their cars and onto other forms of transport.
Key to this he believes is involving crowded inner city areas, where easy cycling and walking options are not always available. Tillita Christie and Azra Begum have Saheli Hub to thank for getting them back on their bikes in their dotage. The organisation has been getting women into cycling for more than 10 years.
Lessons are offered in Calthorpe, Handsworth and Ward End parks. Participants can graduate onto road riding sessions. Two years ago Tillita, now 86, tried to ride her grandson’s bike but couldn’t balance.
She decided to learn to ride at Saheli Hub. She was very nervous at her first session. “I didn’t think I could do it at my age, but the instructor encouraged me,” she says.
“I persevered and succeeded. ” Tillita Christie, now a confident cyclist She meets fellow rider Fakrah on a Friday morning and cycles round Canon Hill Park with her. “Through cycling, I’ve built up a community, and we go walking together now, too,” she says.
“It’s built my confidence, I meet new people and I feel I’ve grown. ” Climate change is a motivation for her taking up cycling, she says – “When I look around and up at the sky I get scared with how quickly things are changing. ” She thinks word of mouth is a way to get more people riding, regularly telling women in her WeightWatchers’ group in Kings Heath about her cycling.
“I want to encourage others,” she says. “For me age is but a number, it shouldn’t prevent you from anything”. Azra Begum’s doctor suggested she try cycling “so I was really glad to find a local club,” she says.
Aged 70, her first session was tough but “with the support and encouragement of the Saheli instructors I was riding comfortably in a few sessions. They then supported me to go in the park. It was such a great feeling.
” Azra on a cycling session with Saheli Hub “The best thing is the confidence that I have gained since I have started riding,” the Alum Rock resident adds. “Saheli has supported me to learn the skills I needed and I completed my first seven mile road ride with them. I didn’t think that was possible at my age.
” READ MORE: Birmingham City Council to slash services for kids, adults and homeless in first cuts Azra used to drive in Pakistan, but no longer does in the UK. “Now that I am cycling I am glad I am supporting the environment by doing small errands by bike,” she says. “More children and families should be encouraged to cycle.
People need to be made aware of the health benefits. My mental health has improved as I can manage my pain more effectively. I have made great friends from attending Saheli Cycling, and learn so much from other people and cultures.
” Juma Begum, Mohammed Jobbar, Rupia Begum have all benefited from cycling sessions run by Birmingham Asian Resource Centre (BARC) and the Canal and River Trust, launched last year. Rupia Begum, 42, who had never ridden a bike before, joined a taster session in Perry Barr. She was initially scared and found it hard work but is now committed to heading out again.
She feels women from her community who go cycling can feel “embarrassed and ashamed” because of negative reactions they get – a cultural barrier the organisation is trying hard to overcome. Cyclists enjoying a community ride in Birmingham (Image: Joshua Neicho) Mohammed Jobbar, a debt and welfare adviser with BARC and previously with the Citizens Advice Bureau, returned to cycling last year after more than 30 years. Within months he had graduated to being a bike leader.
“It brought out the child inside of me. I always wanted to ride but never had the time,” he says. Concerns around bike storage and security need to be resolved, he says, after he saw a thief take an expensive bike chained to railings in Castle Vale.
Taz Parvaz from the Canal and River Trust has helped the group find bike storage space at Perry Barr Locks. BARC centre manager Juma Begum has previously had roles in the NHS health promotion unit, as a welfare benefit advisor and in legal aid, and was elected a councillor in Redditch last year. She has also come back to cycling again as an adult.
“I had to find the courage and confidence to do it,” she says. “It’s just me and the road and greenery around me – I really enjoy that. ” Teaching people bike maintenance basics as well as how to ride consolidates the habit, she says: “It gives you more confidence.
If you learn to maintain the bike, you keep it for longer. ” Getting women cycling is particularly powerful, she thinks, as they are then likely to teach their children. She also feels it helps raise the currently low profile of environmental issues in the Asian community, with people reminded that riding a bike to the local shops is cheaper and healthier than driving.
“And better for the climate as well. ” Fabio Henriques got into cycling while growing up in Portugal. He would regularly follow his cousin to mountain bike competitions.
Henriques’s father and grandfather were keen DIY metalworkers, with lots of tools in the house, and he learned early on how to fix parts and seal punctures. While still at school, he started working as a bike mechanic. Since coming to Birmingham nine years ago, he has worked at a series of bike repair businesses and organisations promoting a shift to cycling, including The Bike Project, which gives refurbished second-hand bikes to refugees.
Now he has his own workshop next door to the Bike Project in the Old Printworks, Balsall Heath. Fabio Henriques repairing a bike When he first came to Brum, he was struck by how cheaply quality bikes were selling for second-hand, suggesting a ‘throwaway society’. “In Portugal, when they buy a bike they make things last,” he says.
“All this waste is shocking. It’s not sustainable. If you put oil in the right places and inflate the tyres, the bike can last years.
” Get breaking news on BirminghamLive WhatsApp While he thinks the city’s A38 and A34 cycle routes represent a big improvement, he argues there’s a need for “a lot more” in different areas. He worries that safety concerns put people off cycling. “Some other people don’t cycle as they don’t have anyone to cycle with, or they don’t know how to read a map,” he adds.
“One of the big problems is many, many drivers have never been on a bike. Maybe the Government should take action that before you take your driving licence, you have to get your ‘cycling licence’ – one or two days on a bicycle, on the road. ” He’s delighted about the impact the Bike Project has had.
“It’s amazing when a refugee or asylum seeker gets a bike, they smile: it’s priceless. The social aspect of cycling is so important – the freedom to travel, explore, and start a new life. No matter where you come from, the bike is for everyone.
” He added: “The traffic on the Moseley Road is terrible. We shouldn’t be fighting for space for people and better air quality: it should be the norm. ” Keep up to date with all the latest politics news with our politics newsletter.
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From: birminghammail
URL: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/you-should-your-bike-birmingham-27580704
