ARTICLE FROM THE BOOK:
Cyclists & Cycling Around the World – Creating Liveable
andBikeable
CitiesCyclists& Cycling
Aroundthe World
Edited by Juan Carlos Dextre, Mike Hughes & Lotte Bech
Published by Fondo Editorial, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 2013
ISBN: 978-612-4146-55-8

How to Get Started - Ten rules that haveincreased cycling in Bogotá and other cities
By Carlos Felipe Pardo, Bogotá, Colombia (Mesa de la Bicicleta)

Introduction
Getting started in moving forward a bicycle-related policy in a city is a difficult but
fulfilling challenge – it implies a lot of work and takes considerable time. I will describe myexperience in taking part in various activities and groups that promote bicycle policies
in Bogotá and other cities where I have worked. I must clarify that I will discuss bicycle
policies in the broader sense of the word, meaning that it relates to promotional activities
but also regulation (i.e. modifying laws) and infrastructure interventions and projects.

Photo by Carlosfelipe Pardo (in Bogotá, Colombia)

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Photo by Claudio Olivares (in Santiago, Chile)

I have organised this article into ten lessons. For more detailed descriptions of technicalissues of bicycle policy, designs and regulations, I direct readers to the works of otherauthors, predominantly Goodefrooij, Sagaris and Pardo, eds 2009 (For specific references,See Appendix). This article relates to very specific issues that will kickstart discussions
and get the agenda moving.
I am not an engineer but a psychologist and urbanist, and before getting those titles I
used to ride a bicycle mainly as a competitive sport. The ten lessons below reflect myexperience as a person who has ridden bicycles for many years, but also as an advocate,a policy advisor and a citizen.

1. Get a (proper) bicycle
In many cities across the world (including Bogotá, a city with a long history of cycling as
a competitive sport), the generalised perception is that a bicycle is a vehicle for sportsor recreation. Regardless, whoever wants to promote bicycle policy must have a bicycle
designed for use in the city. The bicycle doesn’t have to be sophisticated or expensive,
it should actually be rather basic. Getting a single-speed bicycle with adequate frame
design, a comfortable saddle and fenders is enough, and definitely the first step
to becoming a person who understands what it means to ride a bicycle in a city andpromote its use.

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Cyclists & Cycling Around the World

Photo by Carlosfelipe Pardo (in Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Helping others in getting bicycles is also a fundamental step in changing /creating acycling culture, especially where bicycles “equal” lycra and helmets. In doing so, one must
prepare suggestions, land tips, talk with local bike shop owners and convince them thatcity bikes must be part of their stock.

2. Embody your message: ride the bicycle
Someone who is promoting bicycle use must use the bicycle, and be aware of thedifficulties that may arise in its use, while also knowing details of the infrastructurethat exists for bicycles. Riding a bicycle makes people better aware of what needs to bechanged and it literally provides a hands-on approach to understanding a problem.
It is also indispensable to have other people ride bicycles, and to do so as frequently as
they can. Getting friends, family, colleagues and “influential people” to ride bicycles is apromotional activity in itself but also a way to present the issues of urban mobility in acity every day.
One must also be conscious of the fact that one represents a culture, and that one must do
so adequately: not following traffic rules is not the best way to promote a bicycle policy
in a city, especially because the notion of “the irresponsible cyclist” may be perpetuated.

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Photo by Carlosfelipe
Pardo (in Copenhagen,Denmark)3. Cycling as transport
There are three reasons to ride a bicycle: for leisure, sport and/or transport. The historyof bicycle use has followed a similar progression in many cities: from leisure to transport
to sport and the cycle continues or stops at a practice of riding bicycles for one or moreof these three reasons.
The experience in Bogotá, for instance, is one where the bicycle was identified withsports from the 1950s with its “Vuelta a Colombia” road race, and was then enhancedby an image of leisure from 1974 when it implemented its Sunday Carfree Day (an eventthat continues to this day).
How useful is it to promote cycling for leisure or sport as leverage to its becoming amode of transport? Nobody has been able to answer this question completely. What istrue is that the development of schemes like the Sunday carfree initiatives definitely puts
bicycles on the public agenda and in people’s minds as something that actually exists
and can be used.
In general, it is advisable to promote recreational or sports cycling as part of a city agenda,
but with a view to promoting the bicycle as a mode of transport.

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4. Learn about the topic
The past indications were related to the actual practice of using a bicycle properly
and embodying the issue that is being promoted. But it is also necessary to become
knowledgeable about the topic and to be reliable in providing information to others.
Knowing about experiences in other countries, understanding if and how specificactivities have worked, and learning how to adapt those solutions to the local context
is not only strategic in terms of becoming an expert in the topic, but it is also greatlybeneficial for a city that relies on one’s expertise for improvements. Promoting cycling
must be seen as a truly technical issue and is not an idea that emerged overnight.
In Bogotá, knowledge of bicycle policies has been enhanced by visits from technicalexperts from various countries in Europe, and even through training courses on cyclinginclusive infrastructure supported by international cooperation agencies. The fact thatBogotá made huge investments in bicycle infrastructure from 1998-2000 also led to agreater level of technical knowledge and awareness amongst its citizens and experts.
The good news regarding knowledge and capacity development is that there are many
free and easily available resources on various websites (see appendix) where anyone canlearn a lot.

Photo by Jonas Hagen(in Rio de Janeiro,Brazil)

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5. Work together
The experience of Bogotá is particularly useful in that, despite having various advocacy
and technical groups promoting bicycle policies, there have been no strong arguments
between them nor any significant conflicts or false leadership – the same cannot be saidof other cities where, despite having a strong advocacy culture, bicycle policy promotion
has not been particularly effective due to group clashes.
The key to arriving at this common understanding of working together despite differences
was the common agreement in 2008 that, regardless of the intricacies of each group’sinterests and working strategies, all would agree on one thing: to promote policies that
included the bicycle in a favourable manner, and to respect each other. This was mainly
the work of the “Mesa de la Bicicleta”, a group of experts and advocates who worked topromote bicycles in Bogotá but invited others to do so in parallel and complementary
fashion. Some basic rules of this cooperation between groups have been to respect
others’ views, recognize the work of others explicitly, forget antagonisms, and invite
others to think in the same way (or actively indicate when someone is “crossing the line”).
This has been effective in creating a strong agenda for cycling and in generating specificpositive effects in bicycle policies in the city.

6. Get support
Working as an advocate is an interesting activity, but it needs support from strategic
stakeholders. Getting interest from specific groups is very important:

Photo by Bogotá Chamber ofCommerce (in Bogotá, Colombia)

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Cyclists & Cycling Around the World- Government: policymakers are the ones who will enact policies, promote theirimplementation and create budget allocations for cycling policies. They should be approachedand engaged in promoting cycling, and sometimes the only way to do this is through strong(but decent) opposition. One risk of “over-including” policymakers in the game is that theymay use bicycles as a political instrument, working against one’s intentions.
- Private sector: bicycle shops, importers of bicycle brands, and any company thatsupports bicycle use (directly or indirectly) can be used strategically to promote a bicycle
policy. The risk here would be to generate too many commercial links to bicycle use.
- International organizations: there are many organizations that can provide support, advice
or just generally support the actions of a group promoting bicycle use. There is seldom anopportunity to get financial support from them, but their knowledge and advice is mostuseful, as well as their written support (for instance, when presenting proposals).
- Citizens: many citizens are supportive of bicycle policies, even if they are not bicycle users.
They must be actively sought to support actions related to the promotion of a bicycle
policy, and that support can range from “liking” a Facebook page to taking part in activities.

Clipping from El Tiempo
newspaper (Bogotá,Colombia)

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Photo by Claudio Olivares(in Bogotá, Colombia)

7. Provide reliable information
Communicating a message (e.g. why cycling should have a more prominent role in cityor transport policy) needs to have arguments, reliable statistics and in general must
follow the same guidelines as a scientific report. This is especially the case when cycling
is regarded as an inefficient form of transport or just neglected as a mode of transport.
If one is to promote cycling, one must provide thorough details of any example, and also
be able to respond to questions that may challenge assertions. There is nothing worse forcycling promotion that someone giving the wrong statistics.

8. Be creative and visual
Presenting a message with enough visual appeal is one of the most effective ways tocatch people’s attention. Promoting a bicycle policy will involve presenting the use of thebicycle as something easy and joyful, where people can use their bicycles with normal
clothes and they will not sweat when riding.
There are two champions who should be credited for bringing forward this image ofcycling in a most visually appealing way. One of them is Cycle Chic, the other is Ciclismo
Urbano. The first of these initiatives (Cycle Chic) was born in Denmark and has now
expanded throughout the world with its Cycle Chic City model, where cities promote
the use of Bicycles following the “Cycle Chic Manifesto”. The second example is that of30

Cyclists & Cycling Around the World

Photo by Carlosfelipe Pardo (in Bogotá, Colombia)

Ciclismo Urbano in Chile, which are very similar to Cycle Chic but their aim is to promote
cycling as part of an “urban experience”.
The lesson drawn here is that cycling has great potential to be presented visually toothers, and that one can use photography and other visual aids to promote a bicycle
policy adequately while persuading others to be part of that agenda and to support it.

9. Write, speak, ride
In order to complement visual information, one must be able to write and speak clearly.
Having a good relationship with the media implies that one should also be able todeliver useful press releases, key fact sheets and give crucial information to journalists
and editors so that they can support a bicycle policy in a city through their media. It
is definitely “a must” to be able to communicate with people effectively in order to getthem onto a bicycle or to gain their support.

10. Have fun while promoting cycling
Having fun while promoting cycling is something that is not so difficult to do, but I want
to repeat that idea since there are times when promoting cycling is frustrating or difficult.
However, it is always good to get on a bicycle and go for a ride.
Carlos Felipe Pardo
pardo@despacio.org

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