When I joined SEStran at the beginning of June, I was asked if I wanted to attend the Cycling Scotland conference. As a relatively new professional, it was an easy yes. An opportunity to network, learn and hear from others working across active travel was too good to pass up.
When I was asked a few weeks later if I wanted to do the cycle tour breakout on the day, though, I laughed. I had a bike, but I wasn’t a cyclist, and I hadn’t cycled in years.
Now we’re three months down the line and honestly, I regret saying no. When the Princes Street fire happened and my route to the office was effectively ended, I jumped on a Voi bike, helmet on my head. And now, on the days I work from home, I go for a ride on my own bike along my local canal path.
You now might be thinking, okay, but what about the conference? Well, at the conference I really resonated with Anna Holligan saying, “you don’t have to be a cyclist to cycle.” Not only that, I really resonated with the way she spoke about working and being a mother, a balance I sometimes struggle with.
I didn’t expect to think about working motherhood at this conference, and it’s likely not what many people have taken away from Anna’s speech. But the truth is, when you are a mother who works full time, it really does feel good to see others doing it. Seeing Anna integrate not only cycling into her role, but also her identity as a mother, felt really good.
Anna even mentioned a phrase I haven’t heard for years, and when I did hear it, it was from my own grannie, ‘you aren’t made of sugar’. Earlier in the day, we had heard about how many of us in Scotland cycle in fair weather, but the difference between us and the Netherlands is that the rain doesn’t stop them.
What made Anna’s perspective especially interesting was that she could speak from both sides. She now lives in The Hague, where cycling is built into daily life in a way that feels normal, practical and expected. But her family live in a small town in the Scottish Borders, so she also sees first-hand how different the experience can feel here when the infrastructure around you is not the same.
That comparison really stayed with me, because it showed that culture does not appear out of nowhere. It is shaped by what people are able to do safely and easily every day. If cycling is supported by connected routes, clear priorities and infrastructure that makes sense for everyday journeys, then it becomes part of normal life. Without that, cycling can feel like something for confident people, fair weather, or occasional leisure rather than a practical option for getting to nursery, school or work.
That really demonstrated the need for development in our area. After all, we aren’t made of sugar. The rain won’t melt us like the Wicked Witch, but gaps in infrastructure, safety concerns and poorly maintained routes can stop people before they even start.
If our cycle paths are well maintained, connected and cleared in the snow, cycling to nursery, to school and to work starts to feel like a practical choice and, in many cases, just as safe if not safer than driving.
For me, the conference was not just a professional learning opportunity. It was a reminder that active travel is personal as well as strategic. It is about confidence, identity, caring responsibilities, weather, safety and the everyday routes people actually need to take. I went along as someone who did not quite see herself as a cyclist. I came away thinking much more about what needs to change so that more people can simply cycle, without feeling they have to become “cyclists” first.
