Ely

I have lived in Ely since 2005. My then fiancée, now husband and I moved up from London having decided it made a good place to settle down and have kids. Ely was a popular destination for young families and had doubled in size since the millennium. My son's school had to add multiple classrooms and facilities as have and are all the schools in Ely, the place is growing fast. I read somewhere the 2nd fastest growing town in the UK.
In the garage of our semi are quite a few bikes, Leon's bike, soon to become Reuben's; a 16 inch Specialised with pedal back brakes and really nicely designed stabilisers that don't come loose and flop about. Toby's bike, a Merida hybrid, recently purchased to replace his Ridgeback that after a decade commuting in London then 5 years retirement in the garage of occasional use, on it's last service the bike shop said it had had it's day and everything needed replacing. My Brompton, red, 3 speed L3 - used to do up to 100 miles a week in London, very comfortable and fast - I have an extended seat post due to my height and a very comfy Liberator saddle, I've replaced the rubber thing that joins the back wheel to the frame with a harder rubber suspension thingy usually used for recumbents. I'm a heavy bird and it makes the ride less bouncy. Then I have a Halfords full suspension mountain bike that I actually hate and intend to sell and replace with a hybrid. It's too small for me and I was daft to buy it even if it was £25 plus a £35 service.
My absolute favorite is my Bergers 28" wheel dutch bike, 3 speed sram, hub gears, dress guard, chain guard, front cargo carrier back carrier with paniers with rain cape for little boy, enormous motorbike lock and cable extension for AXA horse shoe lock (will lock my trailer to the bike) and Hamax Sleepy for Reuben. It weighs an absolute ton, but it goes amazingly, so comfortable and great for everyday to school and into town. Then there's my trailer, I can carry two in the trailer and one on the back of the bike.
Most days Leon rides to school on his bike with me on the outside of him and Reuben sits in the Hamax. On rainy days, I'll take Reuben's mate Alex to school too, the two of them in the trailer, dry days I let them scooter, Leon goes on the path on his bike and I'll either walk or follow on the bike.
We are really lucky in that once we've negotiated the busy road, the rest of the journey is a cut through path.
There are maybe 10 parents, 20 tops in total who ride their kids to school, so out of the two schools next door to each other this is not really very many. Why is that? The school run is plagued by cars parking, leaving cars on pavements, corners and up in residential areas close to the school, there is one bike space by the main gates and a couple of places inside the school that are sensible to lean a bike. There's a lovely new shed by the Nursery entrance with space for maybe 20 bikes, every day it's completely full of kids bikes and scooters. In a Dutch school this parking would have made up maybe a tenth of the parking available, that parking would be rammed full and overflowing.
There is another guy who has the same trailer as me, we chatted about how useful it was, how much the kids enjoy it and how it's alot cheaper than a second car, not to mention easier to park. In Cambridge, only 15 miles away, we wouldn't be unusual, but in Ely we of one of maybe half a dozen bike trailers I've seen in the 7 years I've lived here.
Ely is a couple of miles wide, many of the journeys made would take maybe a couple of minutes longer by bike, why are most of the cyclists in Ely either only visible cycling to the railway station first thing in the morning on a week day or over 70?
There is a bit of decent bike parking in Ely, it's full on a Saturday and usually the 10 Sheffield stands are half full at any one time, as are the half dozen spaces outside the Library. Cyclists are relatively rare in Ely, if cycling started to gain popularity, where would all the bikes get parked?
The Ely Cycle Campaign is approaching 6 months old and already we are being consulted on a variety of issues like this, it's fantastic. We are on the crest of a wave where there is money that needs to be spent on encouraging more cycling and they need cyclists to instruct what needs doing where.
My main issue is that there is plenty of research that suggests that  the women wont ride bikes on UK roads; they are too fast, too dangerous, too bumpy and forget sticking your kid on the back or on a bike with you. I do it and it's fine but I am, lets face it a life time, experienced, confident cyclist. If you last rode a bike as a teenager, what are the chances that the bike in the garage is in desperate need of a service and probably doesn't fit you properly/you never really got the hand of the gears and every time you touch it it covers you in oil?
I want to examine how we are marketed bikes in the UK, how the roads can be made perceivably safe enough for cyclists who aren't among the thousands, mainly men who use the roads now anyway, how can we get women riding bikes that are comfortable, wont cover you in oil and will carry 30 quids worth of groceries and a toddler.