Hannah Knowles, a Teaching Assistant living in Sauchie, north of Alloa, used to cycle regularly.
Once she became a parent, however, she struggled to work out how to travel by bike with her young son and all the bags and belongings she needed to get around. It’s a common experience: 1 in 5 people cite ‘inconvenience’ as reason for not travelling by bike, with almost 9% of people saying that ‘no way to carry luggage/shopping’ is barrier to them cycling.
Hannah found out about local charity, Clackmannan Development Trust, through the school she teaches at. One of the tutors, Scott, was teaching Bikeability training to pupils and Hannah got chatting to him. She wanted to know where to buy a bike that would fit a child’s seat, as the cost of travelling by bus was going up and the timetable didn’t fit her life.
Clackmannan Development Trust were able to help out by loaning Hannah a bike and front seat for her little boy. The team also modified the bike with a large double kickstand so Hannah could safely strap her son into his seat, without worrying about the bike tipping.
Hannah also had two cycle lessons on local roads to help build her confidence cycling with her son on board.
Hannah’s now dropping her little boy off at nursery then cycling to work, saving her over £80 a month on travel costs, and she’s planning to buy her own bike through the cycle to work scheme.
I have thoroughly enjoyed going back to cycling to work and really appreciate this opportunity given to me to restart. I’ve gained confidence in cycling with my son being in the front seat as well as found an activity to be active in.
Scott has helped me on my first run to the school showing me the best route to get from A to B as well as my first bike ride with the seat. I am now really confident cycling with the front seat through this training as I have never rode a bike with a baby carrier before.
My son loves the journeys to work on the bike: when he sees his helmet he goes "bike" and he loves looking at his surroundings on bike, ringing the bell.
We are really enjoying our cycles together and would like to thanks Scott and Clackmannan Development Trust for all their help.
