by Phil Crompton
Introductory note: In the autumn session of the Women in Transport book club we had the honour of welcoming authors Jo Ward and Phil Crompton to discuss their novel, We All Ride Bikes Now. Their excitement for cycling was compelling, both during our discussion and in reading the book. See below for the interesting backstory to the book, as well as how to gain a copy for yourself (or perhaps a young person that might be curious about cycling). Many thanks to both Phil and Jo for joining us! - Carmen Oleksinski, Women in Transport Book Club Lead
Phil and Jo donating the proceeds from We All Ride Bikes Now to the cycling charity Ridewise
There were so many “Lockdown Projects”. One of my friends built a Shepherd’s Hut, another produced a series of batiks that showed the splendour of the Lancashire countryside, two learned to speak Spanish. Jo Ward and I wrote a book about bikes.
It all seemed so obvious. I was Chair of an East Midlands based cycling charity called Ridewise. It became clear that cycling was going to have a very high profile from March 2020 and that all efforts to promote it as a healthy way of getting around would surely be listened to. So I wrote the story. But there was something missing. Expertise.
The story was about a young woman called Anna who left school with a scathing view of cyclists but after a few days of driving to work she changes her mind and becomes an evangelist. Along with her new mate Jake they set off on an adventure that takes in Amsterdam, Utrecht and Copenhagen. All becomes clear to them. Britain has to change. It’s a great tale isn’t it? Well, not yet. I had led secondary schools for 20 years and had three daughters. I knew lots about the reluctance of young women in the UK to cycle. But I needed someone who really knew about transport. Helen the CEO of Ridewise told me about Jo Ward. She’d been absorbed in the transport planning world for a long time. Thanks goodness she came along. The book was about to be transformed.
Remember, we were still in Lockdown so we had never met in real life. Drafts of the text skimmed across the River Trent, Zoom calls were used for team meetings. And eventually we got there. A story that lifted the heart emerged. We hadn’t been able to re-visit the Netherlands or Denmark but we were able to share memories of trips we’d both made and with a little help from the internet it felt as if we were there. Well, almost.
Once the books were printed we set about promoting our work. Jo knows many people in the transport world and sold a lot. We decided that all profits would go to Ridewise and were quickly able to donate £300 with hopefully more to come. Book buyers were kind enough to send photographs of them reading “We All Ride Bikes Now” next to their own bikes. We even tracked down a real life Anna who had recently thrown herself into cycling. All pics can be seen through the Twitter account @WeAllRideBikes
“We All Ride Bikes Now” was a shared venture. It lit up the lockdown period for us and seems to have gone down well, with a huge number of people telling us they enjoyed the adventure. We await the bids for the film rights. And we also are about to start promoting vigorously in schools. It’s a story that needs to be heard and discussed.
If you haven’t got a copy yet send an email to weallridebikesnow@gmail.com . It’ll be with you in no time.
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