What motivated you to become involved in Wheels for Wellbeing?

When Janet Paske founded Wheels for Wellbeing (WfW) in 2007, she asked if I’d help as part of the first Board of the Charity. As someone who had experience in charity governance already, and as a local Disabled person, I said yes, of course!

I already had a clip-on handcycle but I didn’t think of it as a cycle - just an extension to my wheelchair to keep up with my child in the park on his first little bike.

It’s only through getting increasingly involved with WfW, and years down the line becoming its director, that I’ve become better equipped and more confident to become a Disabled cyclist myself, using my e-assist, clip-on handcycle for the vast majority of my journeys around London.

Describe your cycle and what it means for you?

I’m in my mid-50’s and have to exercise to stay well. Cycling is the only exercise I can do without injuring myself, so it’s what keeps me well. It also keeps me happy by providing me access to huge amounts of green spaces around the city, and it’s a much more social mode of transport than sitting in a sealed bubble of metal. I pollute so much less and I save so much money over time!!

I used to drive everywhere and to say “unless I can drive and park right outside my destination, I can’t go”. That’s because pavements are SO inaccessible and unpredictable, that even using the bus was extremely stressful, so I had to drive.

My cycle is basically my wheelchair, which transforms into a handcycle when I attach my clip-on handcycle to the front of it. It is an amazing piece of kit and it’s transformed the way I think about moving around London.

What are the key barriers to cycling for people with disabilities?

The main barriers to cycling for Disabled people are all the usual barriers for everyone else - the need to feel safe whilst cycling; the fact that you need to see people like you doing something before starting to think you might want to take it up; but also the fact that if you need to ride something other than an simple bicycle such as a trike, handbike, recumbent or tandem, entry prices are closer to those of a very nice second-hand car and are out of reach for most beginners. There are currently no subsidies unless you’re in work and your employer makes the Cycle to Work scheme available to you.

If you ride a longer/wider cycle, the cycling infrastructure is often inaccessible, for example, access barriers like A-frames. And something that few people realise, camber can make cycling extremely tiring, stressful and dangerous and it’s the nemesis of anyone on three wheels.

What is Wheels for Wellbeing campaigning for?

Our latest survey report on the views of Disabled cyclists calls for:

• Universal rollout of fully accessible cycle infrastructure, including parking and storage.
• Rapid implementation of policies that will make cycles affordable for Disabled people.
• An increased range of safe and supportive cycling environments, including specialist sessions, accessible, segregated and off-road cycle ways, quiet streets and driver re-education (building on the recent changes to the Highway Code).
• Formal recognition of cycles as mobility aids, to permit cycle-use by Disabled people throughout public infrastructure, including public transport, and eliminating the risk of benefit penalties for Disabled cyclists.
• Action to tackle prejudice, hostility and hate crime towards Disabled people.

What one action could CIHT members do today to make transportation more fluid for people with disabilities on cycles?

Apply LTN1/20 to the letter.

Further reading

Read the Wheels for Wellbeing guide to inclusive cycling and its latest survey report on the views of Disabled cyclists.

In conversation with Pamela Cahill.