On Wednesday the 11th of February at 1.30PM, three volunteers from Cycling Hillingdon met outside the Brunel University student hub to lead a ride to Uxbridge and West Drayton stations. Seven riders left campus at 1:45, with some completing part of the route to Uxbridge and opting to stay there whilst the rest of us continued on. One student completed the entire loop and we returned safely to campus shortly before 3PM.
Hiring Dott bikes was straightforward and Brunel had arranged with Dott for a promo code to be available for the day which allowed two free unlocks and some usage credit. This was useful for us volunteers as we were able to use the app to hire a bike ourselves so can now advise people in future on how it works. It was apparent that it was not obvious to new users how to get the bike off the stand and how to unlock and lock the physical lock. It’s not rocket science but is always easier when someone shows you.
We spoke to a few other students hiring bikes but not coming with us on the ride. One used the bikes regularly between Uxbridge and campus but had never been to West Drayton by bike. Another simply used the hire bikes to get around campus. We saw no other students on their own bikes cycling around campus which is something we would like to work on in future.
The full ride took us on a loop from campus to Uxbridge, using the quiet route that passes through Cricket Field Road, and back via Fassnidge Park where we visited Recycle-a-Bike briefly. Rejoining Whitehall Road, we passed campus on Cleveland Road and continued on using quiet back streets until we got to the High Street in Yiewsley. We turned round past West Drayton station and reversed our route back up the High Street and onto Moorfield Road and then St Peter’s Road where Hillingdon Hospital became visible in the distance. After a short stop to point out the narrow entrance for cycles to the Celandine Route on Church Road, we turned onto Kingston Lane and entered campus on that side where we completed the hiring process at the docking area outside the athletics centre.
The student who completed the entire circuit was asked what she thought of the ride and said it was: “Really good. It was nice to see different routes you couldn’t find on Google Maps easily. I felt very safe riding with the instructors all around. I think it definitely gave me more confidence to ride to the station and back to campus. The challenging bits were going on the main road to West Drayton. That was a bit scary. But the rest was really nice. I think [on the High Street in West Drayton] I would just go slowly and be more aware”.
We advised her in future to get off the bike and wheel it on the pavement at any time she felt unsafe. During the ride, I pointed out that it was possible to cycle on the canal tow path instead of on the short section of main road we cycled and the student said she had once tried it but it didn’t feel safe as the path was so narrow she was worried about falling into the water. Having cycled that path I know exactly what she means.
We asked a few more questions after the ride.
How could we encourage more cycling amongst the student body?
“Continue doing sessions. Maybe advertise it more around campus, put posters up. People prefer riding in summer, and there are summer schools as well”.
Do you ever see yourself riding your own bike?
“No because I get the train”. (Advised she could buy a cheap one and just lock it up at the station)
Any feedback for LBH or TfL on how things could be improved?
“Putting more signs up on the road, where good cycling roads are, I feel like it’s hard to find them even on Google Maps, I tried once and it sent me to the lake [Little Britain] and the main road”.
From our own point of view, we decided that we need to cajole LBH, TfL and Network Rail to allow a Dott stand right outside West Drayton station as we observed on our planning ride that there is plenty of space there. A quick connection by bike between Uxbridge station and the Elizabeth line is surely something to be encouraged.
In summary, the afternoon validated our view that students need a bit of support to really drive the take up of these hire bikes and cycling more generally. Specifically they need guidance on safe routes, the hiring process, and general advice on how to cycle. We will be building on this event and our relationship with the university to progress this over the coming year.