As a cyclist, I can confirm that the revolution has begun

John Henzell on the difference he has seen in Abu Dhabi's attitude to cycling, a week after cycle to work day.

A revolution began with #cycletoworkuae day last week.Photo: Pawan Singh / The National

The longest journey starts with a single step, the old saying goes. But the path to the UAE becoming a more cycle-friendly place started with many, many pedal strokes just over a week ago.

I was one of those who took to the streets last Tuesday, but that was hardly unusual because I used to cycle to work before then and I’ve continued to cycle since.

Last Tuesday though, for the first time ever, I saw three other cyclists on my short daily commute along an almost deserted minor road and then a footpath beside a busy thoroughfare in mid-island Abu Dhabi. There was even a fraternal – and slightly surprised – reaction from each of us to seeing the others.

After Tuesday, however, I was expecting my commute to return to normal and for me to be the only cyclist around. For the first few days, that was the case.

But then on Saturday, I was surprised to find another cyclist coming my way on the footpath. It happened again on Sunday. A casual scan of Dubizzle for bikes showed that they have been selling much faster than usual.

These anecdotal changes reflect what I count as the greatest dividend from #cycletoworkuae day. For all the naysaying (and as someone who monitors The National's website comments and Facebook page, I know that there was a lot of that) it really did start a conversation within the country. That, in turn, has marked a genuine turning point in cycling here.

Before January 13, reactions to the bike-to-work campaign mostly elicited stridently negative remarks about the dangers of cycling on roads in this country. But over the course of a month of promotion, including the many articles in The National about the many different strands of UAE cycling culture, something discernibly changed.

Part of it was that non-cyclists became aware of the robust and surprisingly populous cycling community in the UAE. One reason why people don’t think cycling is a mainstream activity here is because cyclists usually avoid sharing the roads with traffic, favouring instead car-free options like Tuesdays at the Yas Marina Formula One Circuit, the mountain bike trails of Showka and Hatta, the dedicated cycle tracks of Al Qudra and Al Wathba, and early morning Friday rides on lesser-used main roads while most of the country sleeps late.

All this has the effect of making cyclists invisible to most drivers.

Until recently, there had never been much official support for cycling as a means of commuting. It was heartening to see not just The National get on board but also the police and the Department of Transport to ensure that the day passed safely.

A point we made in these pages immediately after #cycletoworkuae day was that there is an element of self-fulfilling prophecy when it comes to the promotion of cycling.

By being out there (albeit, in my case, on a deserted minor road and then the footpath), drivers will start to make allowances for the presence of cyclists and that, in turn, will encourage more people to leave their car at home and take the bike instead.

This virtuous circle means that in due course, organisations like the Department of Transport and individual municipalities will also begin to give greater emphasis to providing facilities for cyclists, which will ... well, you get the idea.

For all the success of last Tuesday’s mass cycle commute, I still think the best option is for traffic and cyclists to be segregated, which would be reasonably easy to achieve on Abu Dhabi island.

But to all the sceptics who disputed the viability of cycling in the UAE, I hope the experience of January 13 has caused a substantial number of them to change their minds.

As a general principle, people don’t change their attitudes easily and that’s certainly true when it comes to something like cycling in the Emirates.

But this conversation has begun, and the UAE has now embarked on a new journey, marked by a revolution involving many, many pedals.