Can Europe’s cycling revolution outlive the pandemic?

The chirps of birds. The scent of fresh air. The sight of deserted streets. These were the scenes of early lockdown, when usually congested roads became a paradise for cyclists.

Cycling has seen a surge in popularity thanks to the pandemic. At the height of the first UK lockdown, cycling levels were up 150 per cent compared to the same period of 2019. Vehicle traffic, on the other hand, was around half of normal levels.

Bikes allowed people to exercise while gyms and team sports were off limits. They offered a socially distanced leisure activity and, importantly, provided an infection-free mode of transport.

Those who had not cycled in years dusted off bikes from the cellar or dragged them out of sheds. With all these new and returning cyclists on the roads, bike shops had their work cut out.

Gavin Hudson opened Butternut Bikes in July 2020 to cater to North London’s increased bike repair needs.

Butternut Bikes looks like any other bike shop. Bikes hang from the ceiling, tools cover every surface and mechanics hunch over stripped-back frames. A steady flow of customers file in and out and regulars pop by for a chat or piece of bike-related advice.

However, the story behind Butternut Bikes is unlike most others.

Homeless and jobless at the start of last year, Mr Hudson was looking for work when the pandemic hit and “the likelihood of getting a proper job disappeared”.

He posted in community WhatsApp groups to advertise his services as a bike mechanic and received a good response. Starting out as a roaming mechanic in the London district of Hornsey, he soon obtained permission to use the car park of a local Methodist church as a base.

“I got there the first day and there was a queue around the block,” says Mr Hudson. “I took £450, which is about the most money I've ever made in my life in a day.”

He smiles.

“I realised there might be something in it.”

From the churchyard, the workshop made the unlikely move to a nearby pub, before settling in its permanent home in the residential neighbourhood of Crouch End. The shop has been “bonkers busy” ever since.

“We've not even been able to answer the phone,” says Mr Hudson. “The pandemic has created a massive demand and opportunity for new cyclists. We hope that continues.”

The team at Butternut Bikes are not the only ones hoping the cycling trend continues.

Across Europe, governments have allocated almost €1.7bn (£1.5bn) for cycling provisions in the past year. The European Cyclists’ Federation calculates that over 1,500 miles-worth of cycle-friendly measures have been announced. These include cycle lanes, traffic-calming methods, car-free spaces and bigger pavements.

Surprisingly, it has not been the bike-mad Dutch or Danes leading the charge in boosting biking. Rather, southern European countries such as Italy and Spain, as well as France to the north, have done the most to get citizens pedalling.

“Cycling showed its importance as a mode of transport in a crisis situation,” says Holger Haubold, ECF’s director of intellectual property and data collection. “And it proved very easy for cities to transform their streets and give space to cyclists […] when it was needed.”

The most effective cycling infrastructure creates a physical barrier between cyclists and vehicles. However, many cycle lanes created during the pandemic are pop ups, using paint or traffic cones to delineate space for cyclists.

This emergency infrastructure has served its purpose. A recent study found the pop-up lanes generated between 11 per cent and 48 per cent extra cycling in European cities – on top of that created by the pandemic – between March and July 2020.

Mr Haubold says he is “optimistic” that these temporary measures will become permanent.

“They've proven their utility,” he says. “We’re also seeing higher political interest at all levels, including in countries that didn't invest a lot of cycling before.”

Romania, for example, has earmarked over €120m (£104m) for cycling infrastructure in its post-Covid recovery plan.

France, which has arguably shown the most support for cycling during the pandemic, has set “ambitious targets” for the future too, setting aside €1.2bn (£1.04bn) for cycling and public transport in its recovery plan.

It seems governments are committed to giving over more street space to cyclists. Yet, once life returns to something resembling normality, will cycling still appeal to so many?

Back in the busy Butternut Bikes workshop, Mr Hudson is convinced that the bike boom has the legs to keep going.

The shop’s cycling collective is evidence of this. The collective encourages people to cycle for fun, as well as using bikes for transport purposes. Members post their bike rides to a group on the exercise app Strava, clocking up thousands of miles between them a week.

For Mr Hudson, the aim of the collective is to encourage those “who would otherwise feel marginalised by a bunch of skinny professional cyclist-looking types” to get cycling.

“That's always been something that's really important to me,” he says.

This combination of inclusive cycling initiatives, improved infrastructure and cycle-friendly policy is making cycling safer and more accessible for all.

As Europe looks towards post-lockdown living, this may well be the key to ensuring the wheels on Europe’s cycling boom keep on turning.

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