Learning to Cycle Tour

6th October 2025

Get Out Glasgow is a project that utilises physical activity to improve mental wellbeing for the LGBTIQ+ adults in Greater Glasgow. From April to September 2025 we ran an LGBTIQ+ women’s cycling programme funded by Wheels in Motion. The programme included a cycle confidence course, bike maintenance classes and a cycle touring course.

Prior to the course Beatrice had occasionally cycled to work, she attended a basic bike maintenance class with LEAP last year but didn’t have the confidence to go for longer rides. This year she attended a puncture repair bike maintenance class and the cycle touring course. She was inspired to sign-up for the cycle touring course by a friend who had attended the previous year:

‘I had only really cycled to commute to and from work. I’ve always liked the idea of doing more cycling holidays and building confidence to do more cycling than just up and down the road. So I saw it and one of my friends had been on it previously and I’d seen that she’d now been doing all these cycling holidays around the Scottish Islands and I thought that looks really good, I want to do it as well.’

‘I wanted to do more cycling, for longer cycling trips and longer rides, but was always really nervous, if I did get a puncture I would have no idea what to do! So the bike maintenance was great and Sylwia is such a good instructor. I now have their voice in my head telling me what to do and what I need. I think next year I’ll have to go back for the brakes and the gears which is a bit daunting, but I’m sure it’s manageable.’

The course has helped Beatrice feel more confident to travel by bike:

‘I think it was really helpful with the practice rides of just learning new routes, cycling paths through the city to the West End which I’d never encountered before on a bike. So that building of knowledge of where to go was just super helpful. I’m really excited to do a lot more active travel, as well as more recreational riding at the weekend and just kind of enjoying it and then definitely really keen to do more cycling holidays as well. It just feels as though the world has opened up a bit more.’

‘I’ve also had to remind myself that it was also really difficult, there were some really challenging parts of that cycle ride [around Arran] but I still did it. There were times that I got off my bike, but I was still able to continue… it didn’t take away from the enjoyment, it was part of the whole experience. I had such a good time.’

‘I did find that the stress and strain on my body wasn’t as much as if I’d maybe done a whole weekend of walking… that was quite a pleasant surprise in that if I do build it into an everyday habit I won’t feel really fatigued. So I would hope that other people would have that from cycling. That it could be a way of them being active, within the realms of what their body is able to do.’

‘It’s definitely making me want to cycle more as an everyday thing. Whereas I think in the past I’ve been like well I could commute to the office twice a week and you know my legs, it’ll be difficult to do more than that. Well now that I’ve cycled around Arran, I mean compared to bigger things it’s not that far, it’s just that mindset of actually I could do this as a daily thing. That’s definitely how it’s changed, wanting to have daily habits around cycling.’

Beatrice found attending the sessions helped reduce stress and improved her mood and confidence:

‘I went home feeling quite energised, it was nice to spend time with people, it didn’t feel too long, it felt like the perfect amount of time. When work was pretty hectic I just had a nice time in the evening, learning or doing a nice cycle ride and then I could go home and think, ‘ah this day has been a good day.’ So for me cycling just feels like a lot of freedom and independence.’

Beatrice appreciated the course instructors were calm and approachable and fostered a spirit of collective learning:

‘Ruth’s delivery is very calm, but she just has so much confidence and so much knowledge and experience that it never felt intimidating or what have I got myself in for. It always felt very approachable, very accessible, and as though we’re going to learn as we go, we’re all in it together. Then that translated to the ride around Arran, that it all came together, we’re still all doing this together, we’re still getting through. It was all very calm and confidence-building. That block of sessions really made a difference.’

‘The rides all felt really appropriate and relevant and it was nice to practice cycling in a group. It was nice having 6 weeks to get to know people. I’m just very inspired by having done this, this ride, this whole course. I’m excited to do more cycling. It’s been great, I’ve loved it!’

Beatrice now plans to join the Magic Cycle Club social rides, do a Women on Wheels beginners cycle touring course with a camping trip, learn more about brakes and gears with Dynamo, take her bike on more trains and ferries and explore the EuroVelo network.