Katherine

Katherine, a participant in the Oxford Car Free Challenge, found the adult cycle training she received through the project very useful. “I never cycled as a child,” she explains, "I learnt to ride a bike round the garden, but I never used it on the road. As an adult later on, I got myself a bike and mostly used it on Sundays and in quiet places.” Through the session she gained new skills: “There were so many things that I didn’t know, so many tips that I learnt, that it’s given me more confidence… I even learnt for the first time how to start off on a bike, so ludicrously simple things like that.” As a result she says, while she still doesn’t feel ready to cycle in "major traffic", she will probably use her bike to go to nearby shops and expects to make greater use of it on a Sunday, which she hopes will build her confidence further.   

For journeys in and out of town, Katherine, an artist and garden designer, usually uses the bus. “I feel very privileged to have a bus pass and a stop within a very short walking distance to get into Oxford very easily…the replacement of the old juddering buses, which made you feel every pothole and bump in the road, by the new smooth electric ones is a wonderful improvement. Having the announcements is also reassuring at night when it is harder to see where we have reached in the long road in the dark.”

During the three-week Challenge, Katherine was surprised to discover how little she missed using her car. She says she is now thinking hard about the options when it needs to be replaced, at which point she will consider using a car club instead. With the money she'd save, she thinks she might purchase a Brompton folding bike, which would help her in reaching her nearest car club car. She adds: “Climate change has changed what I do. Whenever there’s a choice I’d go for the one that’s more climate friendly if it’s convenient and feasible.”