--
Frank
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"EuanB" <
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news:
[email protected]...
>
> Took the train home from the MCG with friends and family yesterday and
> it was packed. One of my friends is a regular train commuter and by
> his own admission, hates it.
>
> He lives in Hampton and works in the city. He works out of one office,
> has access to showers and good bike parking but he won't consider riding
> to work because he doesn't think he's fit enough.
>
> There's no denying he's no athlete but neither is he morbidly obese
> either. Hampton is about 17kms from the city and the route is largely
> flat. There's no question in my mind that he's capable, but he's
> convinced himself that cycling's bloody hard work and that if he rode
> in to the city it'd take him 90 minutes and he'd be stuffed for the
> rest of the day.
>
> How common is this perception I wonder? How many commuters are put off
> of cycling because of the image that you need to be some sort of super
> athlete to ride to work every day? Maybe I should start riding in a
> tweed jacket and brogues, start to dsipell the notion that cycling has
> to be a strenuous means of travel.
>
>
> --
> EuanB
Try getting him to take a bike on the train and train half way and ride the
rest. Surely he can be convinced that he's capable of cycling 8km or so. He
can then build it up from there. There's no reason to think of cycling as
excluding other transport - multi mode commuting can suit many people.
I think the perception that cycling is hard work is linked to the idea that
"I cycle OR train/drive..." so cycling the full distance is seen as too
hard. Not many people I know would consider a 10km ride short.
Cycling required a rewire of thought in more ways than one. Perceptions are
hard to break For example (my usual responses in brackets) cycling takes
longer (and can teach you to slow down your life a bit!), it's hard work
(but people drive to the gym to work out), it's rainy/cold/hot/etc (so only
ride when the weather's good for you), you can't carry heavy stuff (so only
ride when you don't have heavy stuff to carry). Overall, to regularly cycle
people have to develop another habit (cycling) and that's hard to do - it's
another commitment to make in a world full of commitments.
I've got a few people riding occasionally, not regularly. Some will make it
regular when they realise they feel better when they get to work than they
do when they drive. Some will stay fair weather cyclists - fine; at least
they are not driving *some* of the time.
Overall, I think breaking the binary "cycle OR other" thought process is the
key to starting small changes. Change is easier when it's seen as
incremental rather than radical.
At least your friend is using the train, not driving.
Hmm not bad for a pre coffee post
Frank
