Cycling advocacy group We Ride Australia launched a new campaign during the week urging local councils to improve cycling infrastructure so more people can walk and ride during and post coronavirus.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
For all of the challenges life in lockdown presented for many, there were some good habits established as well.
On Friday my young family marked a milestone of all of us riding to school. No training wheels and no mum or dad running frantically to keep up with our five-year-old as she learned to navigate life on two wheels while trying desperately to stay in touch with her older siblings riding ahead.
It may seem like a small thing but for me it was huge and it has only happened because lockdown did. Before March, the family bikes were tucked away in the bike shed with rarely an outing in our busy, never-at-home lives. The five-year-old had not even been on hers. Now, she is riding like a Tour de France veteran and asking to join in on more advanced routes that had previously split the family in two.
Since lockdown ended and sporting activities started back up, time on the bike could once again easily get put on the back burner.
But we are trying to keep it part of the daily routine, whether that is riding to and from school or having a loop around the park.
We Ride Australia's Let's Keep Moving (www.weride.org.au/letskeepmoving) campaign centres around an animation, which highlights how we have changed our travel habits during the coronavirus pandemic and how the community has benefited as families and individuals walk, scoot or ride in their local neighbourhoods.
We Ride's Stephen Hodge said these healthy habits could dwindle as work, school and other activities return unless walking and cycling infrastructure changes are made.
"Transport data from around Australia has clearly shown significant increases in walking and cycling during COVID-19 across our towns and cities nationwide, which is really positive to see," Mr Hodge said.
"But without the appropriate, connected paths that allow people to continue to walk and ride when they return to work, fears about virus infection will create greater congestion on the road as people avoid public transport and take their cars instead.
"The large number of short trips made across Australia each day is a massive opportunity to convert some of them to walking and cycling if we make those modes convenient and safer. This is our chance to reset what is 'normal' and create healthier and more liveable cities and communities that provide safe and connected active travel networks."
The Let's Keep Moving campaign is supported by VicHealth, Heart Foundation, Victoria Walks and Bicycle Network but it is something most states can be thinking about.
Winter Workouts (20 minutes)
4min x (10 squats, 10 push-ups, 20 mountain climbers), 1min skipping; 4min x (10 dead lifts with a row, 10 walking lunges, 20-second plank), 1min running; 4min x (10 jump squats, 30sec bear crawls, 5 burpees), 1min plank. 5min x (30sec run/skip, 30sec rest).
Renee Valentine is a journalist, qualified personal trainer and mother of three. r.valentine@austcommunitymedia.com.au