Name: Matea
Location: London
Current commuting bike: 1am - titanium Engima
Favourite commuting kit: Full lycra!
Why do you pick cycling as your transport?: For me a lot of it is keeping myself active. Adding up miles and time on the bike. Because I live in South London and work in North London it's a lot quicker for me to get to work by bike. Plus Covid meant that I didn't want to expose myself when visiting patients. So I tried to be as safe as possible for my patients really.
What is the most useful cycling tip you have received?: Be tough and confident! I think the London roads require some resilience.
Why do you think it is important to get women cycling?: I think from a health perspective, particularly what happened over the last 18 months, more sitting indoors, working from home, probably eating more. I think theres already been an increase in weight gain and obesity, so tackling that with cycling would be really useful. Being outside in the fresh air, and also being around a group of like minded women will hopefully provide that health benefit.
And secondly, with a large group of women cyclists already in London I think it would give more women the chance to be part of a strong community
What do you think is the biggest barrier to women cycling?: I think women tend to not take too many risks and they like to feel safe. London roads in particular are still not safe. The government has tried to put in cycle friendly streets, cycle friendly roads but they haven't done enough. If we can provide safe routes around the city that will encourage more women to cycle.
Your favourite environmentally friendly habit?: Cycling everywhere possible!
Greener cities through women cycling....
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