In last week\u2019s On My Bike, I shared stories of older Oxford cyclists<\/a>. This week I\u2019m focusing on two older people who have great ideas about improving access for bikes and mobility scooters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alec, 94, switched to an e-bik<\/a>e<\/a> five years ago. He cycles for transport everywhere within Oxford\u2019s ring road, and goes out on country bike rides with his daughter and her husband, both in their 70s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I go out cycling every day, unless it\u2019s absolutely terrible weather. Cycling is\u2026well it\u2019s my liberty. I would say it\u2019s almost my life now. My legs aren\u2019t terribly strong any more, and I can\u2019t walk very well. But I can cycle just fine.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n Alec cycles to visit friends, the GP, the hospital, for shopping and to events he thinks look interesting. He feels quite comfortable on the roads. But that\u2019s not true for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI speak to a lot of older people about cycling and the number one thing they want is safe, secluded cycleways \u2013 so it\u2019s easy to get about. Lots of people want to get cycling again, to get fit, lose weight, and get about the city easily. But many older people don\u2019t know how to start again or how to make the bike stuck in the back of their garage roadworthy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alec thinks there should be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n He loves the idea of a larger event, a day where older people could come and try out different types of bike in a safe environment, and a parade or marshalled ride for older people to ride the roads safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cecily, 79, stopped cycling 10 years ago due to limited mobility. A few years later she bought a second-hand mobility scooter \u2013 and it\u2019s transformed her sense of freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMobility scooters are quite easy to learn \u2013 but can be really nerve-wracking to start with. And many people who use them feel safer if they\u2019re out with others. Personally, if I go on the towpath, I always go out with my friend who is walking her dog.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cecily uses her scooter to go shopping, see friends and visit her husband\u2019s grave. She loves the independence it gives her, and wants others to benefit in the same way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think there are many housebound older people whose lives could be transformed by mobility scooters. Even if you only ever go out with other people, having your own mobility rather than being pushed in a wheelchair or taken as a passenger in a car makes you feel so much more independent.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Cecily says roads are problematic because of potholes (worse on a small-wheeled scooter), and traffic danger \u2013 especially cars invading the cycle lane. Pavements have many obstructions: bins, over-running hedges, cars, tree roots and dropped kerbs.<\/p>\n\n\n But she says there are other barriers. It is a hassle to get scooters serviced \u2013 especially as specialist sellers are mostly online. Bike shops will change scooter tyres, but don\u2019t keep them in stock, and mobile servicing options are good but expensive. New users need advice on scooter types, and it would be helpful to have guided rides and a special map showing destinations, routes, shops with \u2018scooter-friendly\u2019 aisles, and disabled loos. Cecily would welcome a rotating mobility-scooter mending and advice service, something which visited all the \u201c50+\u201d groups in Oxford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are loads of great ideas here, and I hope we can make some of them happen over the next few years. If you have any further ideas on how we can get older people cycling, please contact Cyclox at contact@cy<\/a>clox.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Emily Kerr<\/p>\n In last week\u2019s On My Bike, I shared stories of older Oxford cyclists. This week I\u2019m focusing on two older people who have great ideas about improving access for bikes and mobility scooters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10641,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,4],"tags":[26,5,125,124,7],"class_list":["post-10636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-on-yer-bike","tag-active-travel","tag-blog","tag-mobility","tag-older-cyclists","tag-on-yer-bike"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Safe cycleways<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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![\"Older](\"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Alec-300x235.jpg\")
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Making mobility work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.cyclox.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/mobility-scooter-300x285.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nMore ideas?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n