Getting back on the bike

Scientific evidence suggests you never forget to ride a bike, but Samira Ahmed didn’t subscribe to that theory.

So 22 years after she taught herself to ride in the garage of her adopted home, the Somalian was tentatively cycling around a car park at the Nga Puna Wai Sports Hub.

“I fell off the first time,” she admits, after her third and final lesson with Bike Bridge Christchurch, a free service which targets female refugees and migrants.

“I thought: ‘I know how to do this’ and I fell.”

Now 34, Ahmed was among about 10 former refugee and migrant women who negotiated bike lessons and safety briefings. 

“I hadn’t been on a bike for 15 years. I wanted to get more comfortable and I wanted to learn about traffic management,” Ahmed said.

“There’s a lot of stuff safety-wise that I had no one teaching me (as a 12-year-old).

“I was really scared of riding on the road but a lot of the roads now have bike lanes so I figured ‘why not? I wanted to do the activity for fitness,’’ Ahmed said.

Spiralling petrol prices also influenced her decision.

Ahmed left last week’s final session – the service breaks over winter – and headed home to Shirley with the bike she rode on, to cap a rewarding experience.

“It’s brilliant, an awesome service. There’s a lot of space and a lot of volunteers.”

Bike Bridge Christchurch switched up a gear in September 2020 after the first one-off lessons were held through a Canterbury District Health Board staff member on International Women’s Day in March, 2019.

“So many women turned up despite the rain, it was clear there was an ongoing need for more than just one session,” said Bike Bridge Christchurch co-ordinator Lois Hill.

While riding a bike is a rite of passage in New Zealand from a young age, many of the women were in their 20s and 30s when being able to access a bike for the first time.

“It’s one of those things that’s really easy to take for granted when we grow up in the West,” Hill said.

“For various reasons whether it’s cultural attitudes or restrictions women face in some countries, many of our learners have never been given the opportunity to learn to ride, or it was frowned upon.

“Quite a few have never sat on a bike, so we really take them through the basics.”

There are no trainer wheels these days but there is a stationary bike for the novices to get to grips with the skills required under the guidance of female volunteers.

Once the basics are mastered the new riders progress to the open road. 

“You learn pedalling and build up skills like signalling and then we go on the road and learn how to pass a parked car, turn left and turn right,” said Hill.

“We want them to be confident in their local area and put what they’re learnt into practice.”

The latest sessions targeted recent arrivals traced through the Red Cross and Christchurch Resettlement Services. 

Some of the women had only recently landed from Afghanistan, while there were other riders - aged up to their 60s - from Somalia, Jordan, Egypt, India, Syria and Nepal.

Bike Bridge Christchurch became more established after collaborating with community bike shed Recycle A Dunger (RAD), another not-for-profit organisation which provides and maintains some of the bikes. Others are donated.

While the sessions are based at Nga Puna Wai, sessions were also held at Linwood Pool for four weeks to gauge interest.

“A lot of the ladies don’t necessarily have access to a car and Nga Puna Wai can be a bit tricky to get to. We’re exploring options of how we can improve access for people in different parts of the city,” Hill said.

• More people biking in Chch than any other city

Hill said it was gratifying to see the progress women make.

“It’s just so rewarding. It’s a real big buzz for them and the volunteers.”

Hill urged prospective learners to keep tabs on the Bike Bridge Christchurch Facebook page for details on when the sessions resume in October.