Seedcorn 2015/2016

The University of Bristol’s Dr. Martin Hurcombe (French Studies) assembled a focused team from the Universities of Bath, Birmingham, and Bristol, as well as an industry expert from Lesportif. Together, they brought expertise from French studies, Psychology, History, and the commercial cycling industry to investigate how we can improve conditions for cyclists. 

What did the project involve?  

Prior to the riding element of the project, Dr Cardon and Dr Hanna conducted research into the history of cycling. They produced digestible histories of Bristol’s relationship with cycling through urban design.  

With the help of a Bristol cycling organisation, the team organised two groups of five riders. One group took part in a pre-ride workshop, where they learned about the history of Bristol’s cycle paths. Both groups were given route plans and the means to record video diaries of their ride.  

As it transpired, the group who had learned about the history of Bristol’s cycle paths ended up riding significantly longer and going further afield.  

 The researchers present their project in this video: 

The video was included in a workshop about improving cycling in Bristol, attended by representatives by UWE transport, Bristol City Council, and local cycling groups.  

Who are the team and what do they bring?

• Prof. Martin Hurcombe's (Modern Languages) current research focuses on the history of the relationship between the sports press and cycling in France. 
• Dr. Nathan Cardon (University of Birmingham, History department) researchers into the United States’ history. His work focuses on the intersections of race and empire in foreign and domestic space.  
• Keen cyclist Dr. Erika Hanna (Historical Studies) has worked extensively on urban history, including the history and politics of the ‘visible’ cyclist.  
• With a specialist interest in traffic and transport psychology, Dr. Ian Walker (University of Bath, Psychology department) brought experience of data analysis and video ethnography, a tool that the project deployed via the use of video glasses.  
• Director of Lesportif, Phil Adkins, provided access to an existing cycling community. He was able to provide the Mud Dock café as a venue for the pre- and post-ride workshops.  

What were the results?

Reclaiming the Roads was the seed for a whole host of future research projects. The research team quickly realised that the most useful elements of the projects were discussions around why people cycled, and what made them love it so much. By learning about the emotional connection riders have with cycling, they would be able to encourage more people to get on their bikes.  

In a later project, Professor Hurcombe was able to work with Dr. Melanie Chalder and Lifecycle, a national charity based in Bristol. They held a day-long workshop called Positive Spin, focusing on a group of older cyclists (aged 60 and over), the reasons why these people love to ride, and the benefits they gained from cycling. Rather than holding structured interviews, they asked attendees to bring along a ‘memory object’ and to discuss the cycling memory that object triggered. By understanding what causes people to fall in love with cycling, they are now able to advise initiatives to get people to cycle more.  

Chalder and Hurcombe then established the interdisciplinary Physical Cultures research cluster whose activities were cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. They nevertheless went on to run two projects exploring the impact of COVID-19 upon outdoor exercise. Active in Lockdown collected people’s stories of running, cycling and walking during the first national lockdown when there appeared to be a surge in these activities. Access and Active Leisure in a Time of the Pandemic: Tales of Two Cities (funded by a Brigstow Collaborative Fellowship) explored the same issue in a comparative study of Bristol and Bordeaux and resulted in a series of four podcasts available here. Both projects highlighted the mental and physical health benefits that helped people through the early months of the pandemic. However, the project also highlighted issues of inequality particularly around access to green spaces.

Since then, Hurcombe has worked extensively with Dr Fiona Spotswood on the issue of gender inequality in cycling. Their British Academy funded project ‘Gender Inequality in Action Sports’ focused on mountain biking and the disconnection that women mountain bikers often experience from the sport’s highly masculinised culture. This has led to a Research England funded project, involving Forestry England, British Cycling, Welsh Cycling and Scottish Cycling, aimed at developing a framework for gender inclusivity in mountain biking and toolkit to help establish new groups founded on principles of inclusion and diversity. Their latest work, a project involving women sports writers and storytellers and Our Media, the Bristol-based publisher of Cycling Plus, BikeRadar and Mountain Biking UK, seeks to explore how the cycling-related media can reflect these same principles in in their representational practices.