goodbye (our actual last blog post)

5 minute read

I’ve been procrastinating writing this to the point where I discovered that the first draft was dated 17th June 2022.

Whether it was being bogged down in trying to understand and raise funds for insurance or the lure of having a proper income, stopping Spoke Out has crossed my mind on many occasions over the past three years. After much deliberation, I feel it is now time to say goodbye.

Along with logistics and a lack of salary, it wouldn’t be a Spoke Out blog post without pointing out the perils of the patriarchy and its influence on this decision. Based on my experience of the cycling sector prior to starting Spoke Out, I already knew I’d be in for a tough ride but the backlash was more intense than I expected.

As just one example of many, I would have never anticipated the threat of legal action against me for reporting overt sexism (shout out to Sustrans in case you’re still monitoring me). In my opinion, we still have a very long way to go until grassroots cycling groups have the resources and respect they need and deserve to survive, let alone thrive.

Nevertheless, from standing with 30 squishy toy cats in an ASDA car park of a Saturday morning to designing and delivering a cycling programme for teenage girls, the joy of enabling and encouraging more girls, women and non-binary people to cycle kept me going.

And I’ve not been alone. Thankfully I’ve been incredibly lucky to have met and been supported by so many compassionate and caring people throughout my time running Spoke Out. Firstly, the Spoke Out steering group of Jo, Jenny and Eva who were a much needed sounding board for my at times bizarre ideas. Sarah and Jane helped to deliver our popular maintenance sessions with passion and patience. Kate contributed her invaluable insight and experiences to the blog. Misba from the inspiring Evergreen Collective was always keen to collaborate. Last but not least, our small but spectacular cohort of Cycle Buddies were a great bunch.

While we’re proud to have been led by wonderful women, it is important to acknowledge that the patriarchy hasn’t been all bad. James was up for starting and supporting with running Kidical Mass rides which he now does an excellent job of leading on (I’ll still be helping out via Kidical Mass Derby). Jay from Ozzy Wheels has been a constant advocate for what we’ve done. Amjad from Community One invited me to design and deliver a summer course for girls in partnership with a local mosque. From driving vans to transport cycles to being Dr.Bike, Hardy has always been on hand to help without hesitation and he also nominated me for BBC Radio Derby’s Make a Difference Green Award for my work with Spoke Out which I was surprised to win in September 2023.

Beyond Derby, the lovely Lauren from Cycling UK kindly supported me through funding applications and offered us free places on useful training courses, and I was honoured to be listed as one of their 100 Women in Cycling in 2021. Lily and Steph from Women in Tandem in Nottingham were there from the start and continue to do incredible work, as does the wider network of amazing women and non-binary led cycling groups who’ve been a source of solidarity. Spokesafe made my idea to repurpose an empty retail unit at the Derbion shopping centre into a secure cycle storage facility a reality. The Foundation for Integrated Transport gave us a small grant, and Bikeability Trust‘s Widening Participation Fund enabled us to work with teenage girls. Rights of Women generously provided me with free legal advice during the Sustrans saga.

I realise this blog has turned into an acceptance speech for a non-existent award but to everyone who has come to a Spoke Out session, course, Dr.Bike, Kidical Mass ride, non-violent direct cation or read one of these blog posts, liked a social media post, donated or sent an encouraging message, thank you. I told my friend that I wouldn’t feel sad writing this but creating and running Spoke Out has been an absolute privilege which I’ll greatly miss because of these interactions and memories.

Although this is goodbye for Spoke Out, I seem to be programmed to address social injustice so my efforts to call for a less rubbish society continue. However, after last year’s local election attempt, sustaining a serious bout of concussion (falling into a wall rather than cycling related!) and reading ‘My year of rest and relaxation‘*, I have made the difficult decision to take a break from local activism in favour of trying to look after my slightly broken body, replenishing my depleted hope and savings and pretending to understand pensions. That being said once I’m more fiscally and physically stable, I do still have some of the squishy cat comrades so a Cats Not Cars sequel is always a pawsability…

As always, thank you for taking the time to read this.

Happy cycling,

Lucy

* for anyone who has read this book, just a heads up that I don’t intend to knock myself out for months via narcotic consumption. Instead I will mostly be opting for a more placid combination of working, watching Suits on Netflix under a weighted blanket and building Lego for my community window display.