I agree with much of what Jonathan Liew says (Britain’s cycling boom won’t last and lack of institutional will could stop it, 6 February).However, his article does not seem to completely separate cycling from the event. I’ve been a bike ride leader and bike instructor since 2009, a few years before the boom.
I gave up racing in the early 1980s when I discovered that bike clubs were really just golf clubs on wheels. The “Rapha Cafe Hole” is the equivalent of a golf hole in the 1980s. Pre-pandemic I loved riding around Glasgow’s velodrome until I rediscovered the golf club mentality of the 80s. I never came back.
The National Lottery and the UK Government have invested millions of pounds into the British Cycling/Team Sky programme, and it has paid off handsomely. This reflects glory on sponsors and politicians and is gold dust to them. Public funds were diverted heavily to the private sector, resulting in the defunding of public sector cycling programmes.
In my job, my colleagues and I have taken over 3,000 people on bike rides and taught and trained approximately 1,000 people (both children and adults) to ride bikes. This is the level of investment that should be achieved if behavioral and cultural changes in cycling are to occur. Trying to make “movement” work will fail.Infrastructure and activity investments Cycling projects are the only way to achieve lasting and effective change.
David Campbell
paisley, Renfrewshire
“Interestingly, the grassroots scene seems to be doing very well,” wrote Jonathan Liew. The anecdotes he heard were very different from those I heard, suggesting that non-elite cycling is in its death throes. There are few “concentrated” races on open roads, and time trials have provided a breeding ground for past British world champions, but the situation is poor, with fewer entrants and fewer events. Additionally, the volunteer organizers and helpers who are vital to the movement are aging and not being replaced.
British Cycling has not shown much interest in grassroots action in recent years; the organization’s managers have been brought in from outside the sport and are focused on achieving international success for a small elite group. Modern Britain is everywhere here – pursue short-term goals and let the future be damned. Ultimately, no non-elite racing equals no championship.
Chris Lovibond
Chertsey, Surrey
