When government officials started discussing isolation restrictions in the early stages of COVID-19, Bicycle Queensland pro-actively put forward requests to keep bike shops open as essential services.

Bicycle Queensland wrote to the QLD Premier, the Hon Anastacia Palaszczuk, Minister for Health, the Hon Steven Miles MP, the Minister for Small Business, the Hon Shannon Fentiman MP, and the Chief Health Officer, Dr Jeanette Young for assistance in this matter.

Our letter outlined that bike shops are essential services for cyclists and must remain open (with appropriate safeguards) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the full letter here

We quoted Bronwyn Victor, owner of Planet Cycles in Woolloongabba, who said there was no question that bike shops should keep trading.

“Bicycle use is now more than ever essential, for both transport and mental and physical health. It is imperative that bicycle stores remain able to function for both servicing and supply of vital parts and accessories (e.g tyres, tubes, helmets, lights, brake pads) to keep these people moving safely,” Bronwyn said.

We highlighted that bicycle food delivery services and bike courier services provide valuable support to our small businesses, hospitality and logistic industries. For many restaurateurs and small businesses, bicycles are critical in providing home delivery services and is the only way they can continue to trade during the pandemic.

In efforts to validate the need for bike shops, the BQ team encouraged the bike-riding community to support their local bike shop on our social media channels. As an authority on advocacy and education, we also offered guidance on appropriate measures for social distancing to enable bike shops to continue to trade safely. The Facebook campaign encouraging people to tag their local bike shop was very successful, with more than 130 comments from our community showing appreciation for their local bike shop.

In the last few months, the BQ team have been contributing to some pivotal discussions around COVID-19 lockdown measures. Throughout the lockdown, BQ has been providing updates and guidance on how to cycle safely during COVID-19.

BQ’s CEO, Rebecca Randazzo had meetings with Queensland’s Chief Health Officer and Assistant Police Commissioner to talk about cycling restrictions. Their main concerns were around people travelling too far from home when cycling.

When Bicycle Queensland was first contacted about cycling restrictions, a radius of 5km was suggested. Rebecca successfully lobbied for no distance restrictions when cycling from home during COVID-19. The result of Rebecca’s lobbying enables thousands of Queenslander’s to continue cycling as a form of commuting or exercise.

78% of Queenslanders who have taken up bike riding for exercise during the COVID-19 pandemic prefer bike riding over going back to the gym.

This is one of the findings in a survey commissioned by Bicycle Queensland, which had more than 3000 responses from new and existing bike riders over the past two weeks.

Bike riding and sales of bicycles have boomed during the home confinement phase of COVID-19 restrictions, as Queenslanders seized the opportunity to get out of the house once a day for exercise. Families with children being home-schooled also were grateful for the chance to be outside, often riding together for the first time.

Bike retailers such as 99 Bikes, and online retailer Pushys, reported item as diverse as indoor trainers and child seats were sold out, and re-stocking is proving to be a challenge.

But overall, bike sales were reported by retailers to be up between 50% and 500%, depending on the category.

Automated counters on Brisbane City Council’s bikeway network have reported a massive increase in the number of bike riders. On Kedron Brook bikeway, numbers are up about 300%. 

Bicycle Queensland CEO Rebecca Randazzo said: “This is an opportunity for all levels of Government to be bold, and to work together.”

“The numbers are irrefutable – Queenslanders want to be active, whether it’s about getting to work or getting some exercise.”

“We need to provide safe spaces for people to ride, and the time to act is now.”

John Reghenzani, who lives at Paddington and works at Newstead, is one such commuter, who is returning to office work after home confinement.

“I’ve determined for myself that riding to work is the way to go. I’m killing two birds with one stone … getting exercise to combat my sedentary lifestyle while getting to work more quickly than if I took the bus.

“I’m not a morning person, so riding to work clears out the cobwebs in the morning, and on the way home it helps to get rid of the workplace angst,” John said.

Respondents to Bicycle Queensland’s survey said they started riding bikes during the pandemic because they couldn’t go to the gym (36%), or because cycling is exercise that is gentler on the body than running or walking (36%), or because cycling is exercise they can do with a partner or the whole family (32%). They didn’t ride before the pandemic because of lack of time (40%) or concerns about personal safety (32%).

Most of these new riders are riding on bike paths (76%) or in bike lanes on roads. They are buying road bikes or hybrid/commuter bikes. About 50% of them spent more than $1000 on their new bike, and also dropped another $150-200 on accessories.

They are finding their fitness is improving (68%), and they are discovering their neighbourhood (32%). Best of all, cycling brings joy into their life (65%)!

And a vast majority believe that bike riding will continue to be a regular activity in their life, even once the pandemic is over (81%). Only 2% would prefer to go back to the gym!

These new riders would like to see better cycling facilities, closer to their homes (57%), better end of trip facilities at work (44%), and education course such as bike maintenance, bike skills and route planning.