Life in the Day of a Cycle Campaigner

Yesterday morning saw me heading into town to address the planning committee on the matter of the cooncil’s plans for a just-in-case car park and why they shouldn’t build it, or at least not without first building the flood defences on the existing car park it was supposed to replace. I made my point, answered a few questions, had the satisfaction of hearing my evidence referred to in the discussion – so at least we might have planted the seeds of the idea that there’s such a thing as too much parking, radical for Bigtown – and then permission was granted (on somewhat abstruse planning legislation grounds) on the chair’s casting vote.

I then escaped the meeting, repaired to a cafe for lunch where (and I swear I am not making this up) Joni Mitchell was singing ‘they paved paradise and put up a parking lot’ while I ordered my soup, signed up a couple of new members to the campaign group, and headed out into the rain to the local community group who have been bringing a degree of welcome anarchy to my life. In retrospect, leading them round in a big loop in the rain would prove the high point of the day, and I’ll let you write your own metaphor there.

Riding home in squelching socks, an extraordinarily poor pass when I was almost home at least gave me a chance to exchange rueful mutual shrugs with the oncoming driver who had been forced to stop to avoid a head on collision. And then, after briefly contemplating all the work I hadn’t done because I was too busy pursuing my hobby of banging my head against a brick wall, I was set to again, updating the website, publicising our coming summer ride programme, and sending out the members’ monthly newsletter.

Is it any wonder my mojo has been conspicuous by its absence in recent days?

I had a lovely ride out today, my third led ride in a week (although at least I was only tail-ender today). Next week I'll be addressing the planning committee about why we don't need a 'just in case' car park instead of a green space.

— Sally Hinchcliffe (@sallyhinch) June 25, 2023

I’m grateful for all the warm and supportive responses I got to that thread (when, honestly, ‘pull yourself together woman, worse things happen at sea’ was probably more than I deserved), but I stand by my conclusion. If we have to fight tooth and nail not just for every gain but to try and stop local authorities from going backwards and building themselves spare car parks in case they need them, then we’re not going to achieve anything like the scale of modal shift we need to make any difference to emissions. I chose cycle campaigning as my way of tackling climate change because it seemed at the time to make sense, and it fit with my own enthusiasms. I guess I’d underestimated just how entrenched car culture was, and how difficult it would be to bring about change. But that’s the way it goes. You do what seems right at the time, and you hope for the best.

I’ll keep on because I still believe that cycling can do so much to improve people’s lives, including my own. But I’ll be doing it purely for its own merits, not because I think it will save us now. As to what will – I don’t know. Answers on a postcard please …