I’ve spent years cycling in Birmingham and London and one is a dangerous postcode lottery

Until recently, I always considered myself an avid cyclist. Growing up in a car-free family in East London, from the age of about six, cycling was always my preferred way of getting around town – and often the fastest too.

In fact, I loved cycling so much growing up that I even went to the trouble of hauling my bike on the train to Birmingham when I moved here for university – not an easy task when you can’t bring bikes on the London Underground or in Birmingham. buses. But in recent years, my love for cycling has died to the point where I ended up giving my bike away last year.

Why? Because I’m starting to feel unsafe and frustrated cycling on Birmingham’s roads – and according to recent studies I’m not alone. But how do the streets of the second city compare to the capital when traveling on two wheels? In my opinion, they are worlds apart.

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Before I offer my thoughts, I think it’s important to clarify that anyone’s cycling experience in any given city depends a lot on where you live. However, charity Sustrans’ latest cycling and walking index shows that Birmingham lags behind many UK cities – including London – when it comes to the number of people who cycle regularly.

In my personal experience, cycling in London and Birmingham are two very different experiences. Growing up in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, I can navigate much of my local area on protected cycle paths, shared footpaths and quiet new roads in low-traffic neighbourhoods.

Even a trip into central London, according to Google Maps, would take just under an hour and would see me using protected cycle tracks and paths for over 75% of the journey. However, I’m very lucky to live in an area with easy access to a nearby nature reserve, which means I can travel for miles without ever having to worry about a single car – others may have different experiences.

However, the statistics support this view that cycling is more attractive in the capital than Birmingham. According to Sustrans’ latest study, over half of Brummies want to cycle more, but many feel it’s too unsafe. Just a third (32%) of us Brummies drive regularly – compared to almost half (45%) in the capital.

One of the key reasons for this, in my opinion, is the lack of protected cycleways in Birmingham, a constant source of frustration during my time here in the second city. There are, of course, some notable exceptions.

The A38 Blue Route is a quick, safe and fun way to get into the town center from Selly Oak – and it’s great to see similar projects now taking place on Dudley Road. But too many of Birmingham’s main thoroughfares – including Coventry, Stratford and Hagley Road – still feel very unsafe for cyclists and offer little protection.

In the past I’ve documented my experience cycling (or trying to) around Birmingham. During my loop through the city, there was only a small part of the route where I could confidently say I felt safe – around Canon Hill Park and Edgbaston Stadium. In many residential areas of the city, heavy traffic, parked cars and idling cars made my journey a nightmare.

As drivers passed me well above the speed limit, I resorted to walking my bike on the pavement for many parts of the journey. Of course, if you’re lucky enough to live near our beautiful canals or areas like the Rea Valley cycle route, your experience is likely to differ – but in too many parts of Birmingham, people are too scared to get on their bikes.

Compared to Birmingham, cycling around London lately has been a breeze. With the right route, you can often have a pleasant, quiet and scenic drive even in the heart of London.

Before I’m accused of having a pro-London agenda, I’ll be the first to admit that London isn’t perfect for cycling – and if you follow Jeremy Vine on X (Twitter) you’ll know that yourself. Not only that, London lags far behind a number of European cities such as Amsterdam and Copenhagen when it comes to cycling infrastructure. 62% of trips to work or school are made by bicycle in the Danish capital.

But I can confidently say that, in my experience, Birmingham has some catching up to do when it comes to building a bike-friendly city. In London I can use protected cycle lanes most everywhere I go – but in Birmingham it’s a postcode lottery.

While it’s good to see progress being made in making cycling more viable for Brummies, losing two of our region’s biggest supporters of cycling in recent weeks has been a big blow. Cyclists can no longer be an afterthought.

If we, as a city, are serious about building a safer and healthier place for all, cyclists and pedestrians must be placed at the center of all future projects of our city. A reader summed it up perfectly in an email he sent me recently. “I strongly believe that Birmingham could be a Mecca for cycling with the right support,” they said. I just hope those in power are brave enough to do so.