These adults who learn to pedal in town

On a large forecourt out of the circulation of Lille (North) intramuros, several women chain flexibility exercises. Their sports session will not be yoga or football … but a bicycle course for adults. The association right to bicycle has created a “bike-school” which teaches the use of the bicycle in the city, like a driving school.

Because adults who do not know how to pedal are more numerous than we think. In France, 7 % of French people are in this case, according to a 2023 survey by the Ministry of Ecological Transition. So much so that cycling blooms flow across the country. The French federation of bicycle users (FUB) has no less than 230 to date.

A yellow bib and a helmet for each student

Among the apprentices, Christiane, 72, jokes: “I have fifty years of car license, and yet I still do not have the bicycle license! The retiree vaguely touched on the handlebars when she was a teenager, before abandoning for fear of falling. Alongside him, Greta, 35, is one of those who have never learned to pedal during their childhood. “I am a Colombian, and in my country the use of the bicycle is much less widespread,” explains the young woman.

Flanked by a yellow bib and a helmet, the students exercise, their face concentrated. During their first sessions, a few months earlier, they learned to balance thanks to bikes without wheels. This week, they should pedal by dropping a hand and making zigzags between cones. “When you start in adulthood, you learn less spontaneously and are afraid of the judgment of others,” explains Amandine Gabriels, instructor and employee of law to cycling. So the instructors must go step by step and respect everyone’s pace. »»

“In town, you have to be vigilant and attentive to everything”

The association is one of the collectives that swarmed in the 1980s to militate in favor of the two-wheelers at the time of the all-trip. From now on, the small queen regains her letters of nobility and right to the bicycle has been structured in the Hauts-de-France region, with a team of employees and dozens of volunteers. As part of its environmental policy, the city has been able to smell the right vein.

It has made premises available to the organization, in particular to carry out road prevention workshops. It is from this house of sustainable mobility, located opposite the Lille-Europe station and in the city center, that the team organizes this Monday morning a exhilarated as feared outing. Supervised by two instructors, the students leave for an hour -long walk, around the two immense stations of the Lille metropolis.

In the clutter of pedestrians, cars and electric scooters, Amel, a young teacher at university, has trouble keeping calm. While the group rolls, a delivery driver park on the track and disrupts the fragile balance of traffic. “I want to be sure that there will not be too much risk of accident,” says Amel. In town, you have to be vigilant and attentive to everything. »»

A majority of women

In most French bikes, the majority of registrants are women. A docological sociological phenomenon: women have more difficulty than men to move in public space when they do not feel safe. Some feel a psychological brake when it comes to getting on a bicycle in the middle of the traffic. Bike school is a way to untie these fears and give more room to women in the street.

“These lessons, I see them as an experience of emancipation, exclaims Amel, all smiles after this trip. Now, I’m starting to circulate in town and I am much more confident. For other students, cycling has above all a therapeutic effect.

Comrade of “wheels” of Amel, Christiane evokes, half-word, painful episodes of her life. “The bicycle jostled me,” says. He forced me to get out of my depression and my comfort zone, and I feel much more fulfilled. »»

Greta has a project to be made up after these sessions. She would like to buy a bike to browse the journey that separates her house from her workplace every day. “When I saw my 4 year old son learn to roll without the small wheels in a day, I told myself that this not so big challenge to take up!” »»