Bike Life

Cycling in Bristol is great. It's a good city to get around. But as a mother, it's a bit more scary, especially at the beginning. I was really intimidated.

I eventually got my son on my bike, and I realised how easy it was. So since then, I've been trying to get more mums out on bikes. And the last few years I've been teaching Black, Asian, and minority ethnic women how to cycle to see them get onto the bike and get a bit more empowerment and freedom using the bicycle. I think cycling in Belfast has come a long way.

Indeed, in the eight years I've worked for Hospitality Ulster, we've seen a huge increase in people cycling, and particularly commuters. And it's really good for the city and really good for our industry because we're seeing people, they're cycling out, they're going to our cafes, our restaurants, our pubs. They're wining and dining, and then they're cycling off home. I own a small independent store in Newcastle upon Tyne on Acorn Road, Jesmond.

Two years ago, the council decided to change the road from a two-way to a one-way system with the loss of up to 20 car parking spaces. As an independent retailer, I wasn't too happy with this. However, since the changes have been made, Acorn Road has become more viable with the increase of pedestrians and cyclists. Now with more bike racks, we get more cyclists coming into the store.

When I actually retired, I found cycling, or should I say, cycling found me, and I've never looked back. My social networks have really increased since I've been doing this. I've got a group of friends that I go out with. We cycle four times a week.

The enjoyment that you get from going out on the bike and being free, the wind going through your hair. Cycling is for keeps for me now. As a mum and a cyclist, I want to pass on the enjoyment of cycling, but I want my son to be safe as well. Luckily, the school he goes to promotes cycling heavily, which has encouraged us to cycle regularly.

Living in Greater Manchester, traffic is a concern, which is why at the moment I'm instructing him stage by stage from behind, and hopefully he'll be cycling on his own to primary school before he finishes. Not many families go car-free, but we do, and we find it very possible. We've got a cargo bike with a seat in front for the two kids, and we use it for school runs, we use it for nursery runs, we use it for shopping, we go to the beach. We use the bike every day, really.

We go on the brilliant network of cycle paths in Edinburgh that covers our everyday area. I want my kids to grow up cycling. I want cycling to be part of their everyday life. Cycling for me and my family is a really practical issue.

I'm a business owner in Cardiff, and I run a gender equality charity, so I'm often working across different parts of the city. And I cycle through a mixture of parkland and on roads. Hopping on and off my bike is just the most convenient way to get around. And my kids are also keen to cycle as well, and Tess, my eldest daughter, particularly wants to cycle to school most days.