Oof such complex emotions surrounding this whole "let's prescribe cycling to cure obesity" thing. So heeeere's A Thread Of My Thoughts.
(And a racoon on a tiny bicycle because this is an excellent gif and should be rolled out at every opportunity)
(And a racoon on a tiny bicycle because this is an excellent gif and should be rolled out at every opportunity)
As a cycle campaigner, I'm delighted that cycling is being treated as something of a panacea, which it kind of is, or at least could be. More people cycling = A Better Society. But this puts the onus onto the individual and away from those with the power to begin a cultural shift
As a fat person who rides a bike, I'm irritated by the suggestion that cycling is primarily for weightloss. I already feel ostracised from certain cycling communities as a woman who cycles for transport, not speed/miles, and who doesn't share my pounds shed or calories burnt.
I'm delighted that the govt (claims they) will spend £££ on new infrastructure. But we can do that, make it easier and safer, without nannying people into using the new lanes because they'll lose weight. Build it and they will come. Show, don't tell. Inspiration, not persecution.
We have enough of an issue in the UK conflating leisure/sport and transport cycling, without this additional confusion. We're building lanes to make transport cycling safer, but we're prescribing it for health. Is a bike a toy or a vehicle or sports equipment?
Everyone knows cycling=exercise and exercise=health, and the common belief is health=weightloss (this last point is debatable but I'm not going to do it here). Just like everyone knows that cycling is environmentally friendly. This is very old news.
Cycle activists have been banging on about it being healthy and green for decades, so evidently bashing people over the head with this not-new information is a waste of time, because if that's all that were needed, EVERYBODY WOULD ALREADY BE CYCLING
Brits don't cycle at the moment because (to borrow @YorkCycle's strapline) it isn't safe, convenient, or accessible. It isn't the natural choice. If it were, like in Amsterdam, people would cycle automatically, not because a GP tells them to do it.
So it's essential they build the promised lanes, junctions, storage etc. And obviously it needs to be fully accessible and designed for the least able, not just healthy, able-bodied, speedy middle-aged men on road bikes. Make it safe and convenient and people will WANT to cycle.
Cycling is healthy, and if you do it often/fast enough, you probably will lose weight. But I see that as a side effect, not a reason to cycle. Not to mention that being told to do anything immediately makes the average human want to avoid it at all costs (or is that just me).
I didn't lose weight when I started cycling. However, I did get healthier. Some unrelated heart tests I had about a year after I started doing it regularly showed very positive results and the doctor could even tell, just by looking at the scan, that I was a cyclist.
I understand this is due to the stop-start nature of city cycling, similar to interval training. I cycled to & from work each day, slowly home but fairly fast in the morning (cos I never left on time). I wanted to save money but accidentally got fitter. And I didn't lose weight.
And when I did the TPT in March, despite my obese BMI, I cycled 195km in 4 days & crossed the Pennines on a heeeeavy Dutch bike. I was still fat afterwards. But it was fun (sometimes) and arguably more inspirational than de Pfeffel telling GPs to tell their patients to cycle.
If you're disinclined towards exercise then the best thing is to get it into your day naturally. That's why cycling worked for me. I was resistant when I saw it as sport; I was persuaded when I saw it as transport. A prescription is offputting. For many ppl, convenience > health.
Brits who don't cycle assume that people who do are sporty, speedy, lycra-clad. We don't see media images of larger folks cycling or people in everyday clothes. We don't need a GP to say "you should cycle": we need safety, security, and people who look like us already doing it.
Tell a fat person "you should buy a bike" and many will think "I can't, I'm not an athlete", or even be afraid or ashamed. So instead of saying "the fatties should be cycling", let's reframe the narrative and demonstrate that - surprise! - lots of us fatties already do.
Also: as a larger person on a bike, I get abuse hurled at me, so we need to acknowledge and work on that. It happens rarely these days, but it's pretty bloody demoralising and hurtful when it does. I'm too stubborn to be put off, but others won't be, nor should they have to.
TLDR: make cycling accessible to all. Don't expect people to do something dangerous/offputting. Don't conflate transport with sport. Acknowledge existing overweight cyclists. Reduce the stigma (of both fat people and cyclists). And put flowers on your basket, that helps too. 
