Cycling her own way
Helen Andreae’s advice to new cyclists is simple—start exactly where you are.
“If you see cycling as a really separate thing, where you have to have all the gear, the barriers are always going to be too great. But on the bike I wear exactly what I wear to work. I cycle in heels, because I wear heels all the time. You have to make it so there’s as few barriers as possible to getting on the bike.
“From a cyclist’s point of view I do everything wrong, but from a commuter’s point of view I get from A to B with everything I need, and I don’t have to wait in traffic, and I don’t have to pay for parking, so all of those things make me super happy.”
Helen, a lecturer in interaction design in the School of Design Innovation, is taking part in this month’s Aotearoa Bike Challenge. Helen originally commuted on a scooter, but after it was stolen she hired an e-bike as a quick replacement. She was immediately hooked, and now goes everywhere on her e-bike—it’s her only form of transport, and she rides it wherever her work or social life takes her.
“I wouldn’t say I was a confident cyclist at first—I had ridden a bicycle before, but it was very much just about finding a practical, cheap way to commute.
“But in the last three years, my confidence has really gone up. Initially I would be nervous at the side of the road, but now my ride into work is my happy time. I’ve gotten confident—I ride one-handed a lot of the time, because you tend to be more upright and it’s more comfortable. It’s my little groove to work on my bike, and it puts me in a good mood.
“It feels like my space—I’m in my zone.”
Her advice for cyclists who want to build their confidence on the road is to start slow and go at their own pace.
“Start by doing some rides in the middle of the day or late in the evening, when there isn’t a lot of traffic around. Or it’s good sometimes during rush hour when the cars are stopped because you don’t have to worry about them zooming past you!
“And don’t worry about the wind—it can be off-putting in Wellington, but it’s just a process of getting used to it. At first I noticed it, and now I don’t notice it at all.”
Helen’s attire on the bike, and her willingness to cycle everywhere she goes, has attracted comments over the years, but she likes that she’s found her own way of cycling.
“I like that it makes me a little bit different. I know that I’m a little bit odd in the way I do it, and that’s a positive thing for me!”
The Aotearoa Bike Challenge is a fun, free nationwide competition to see which workplaces can get the most people to ride a bike for 10 minutes or more. The Challenge runs between 1 and 28 February 2021, and you can sign up anytime during the month—don’t forget to add your workplace to become part of the Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington team.
There are loads of prizes you can win by cycling, logging your rides, and encouraging your colleagues. The Sustainability Team is holding a number of events to help you get cycle-ready, including a cycle skills workshop on Thursday 11 January which is designed to help improve your handling skills and increase your confidence while navigating in traffic.