Grassroots unsung hero: Judy Robinson has spent a decade leading more than 500 free cycle rides

Grassroots unsung hero: I can live without pubs as long as I can get on my bike! Judy Robinson, 84, has spent a decade leading more than 500 free, guided cycle rides for women of all abilities

  • Around 15 years ago a GP recommended Judy Robinson took up cycling  
  • They said it would help slightly arthritic knees and a great journey began 
  • Saltaire Women Breezers in West Yorkshire has become a huge part of her life
  • ‘We set up rides, sort our own routes out, risk assess them,’ Robinson says

It was about 15 years ago that a GP told me riding a bike would be good for my slightly arthritic knees. I was given an old bike and went on a couple of Breeze rides and one of the leaders suggested I applied to become one myself.

I made a few enquiries and asked if there was an upper age limit to be a Breeze leader… and here I am 10 years later still wondering if there is an upper age limit to be a Breeze leader!

Cycling has become a very, very big part of my life now and particularly the Saltaire Women Breezers in West Yorkshire.

Judy Robinson became a Breeze leader and has been leading the way for a decade

I live on my own and haven’t any friends in my age group who ride bikes.

So getting involved with Breeze has introduced me to lots and lots of women. I have a core group of about 25 who have been riding with me regularly now for several years. I’ve made lots of friends through the Breeze network and it’s been absolutely wonderful.

The whole programme has just gone from strength to strength. British Cycling set a target in 2013 of getting one million more women on bikes by 2020 and that has been exceeded.

As a ‘champion’, we set up rides, sort our own routes out, risk assess them and upload them to the British Cycling website.

I love doing it. I am a bit of a nerd and I have become a guru of the Let’s Ride website. I have a long list of GPX files and have got Excel spreadsheets going for all sorts of things.

Judy says that she will go out whatever the weather as there will always be others committed

Judy says that she will go out whatever the weather as there will always be others committed

I do a regular Monday morning ride and we go out for about two-and-a-half hours and do 12 to 15 miles. Before the pandemic I was also doing fortnightly Wednesday rides, which were 20 to 30 miles. I know the routes so well that I know practically every bump!

We have a mixed age group. A lot of women come in as beginners so you adjust your speed to the slowest. We never leave anyone behind.

Whatever the weather, Breeze makes you go out because you’ve made that commitment and you know you will have women waiting at the start. If I hadn’t made that arrangement, particularly during the winter, I would look out the window and think ‘I won’t bother today’.

Physically, cycling has certainly kept me going. I still can’t climb up and down stairs but I can ride my bike, even if I am now riding electric bikes. Mentally, it has been unbelievable. I am a natural couch potato but if I go out on the bike, it just gives you a buzz.

Judy rode her bike on her own during the first lockdown and it helped her mentally

Judy rode her bike on her own during the first lockdown and it helped her mentally

OUR VOLUNTEERS MAKE US HUMBLE: 

By Dani Every Cycling Delivery Director, British Cycling

Over the past decade our HSBC UK Breeze programme has provided over 300,000 women with free, friendly and supportive opportunities to meet new people, build up confidence on a bike and in many cases change their lives.

The programme couldn’t exist without the dedication and knowledge of our volunteer Breeze Champions, and we are humbled by the work they put in week in, week outto unearth new routes, encourage their riders and spread the word. Judy is a shining example of what makes the programme so special — proving that age is no barrier to getting out on a bike and inspiring women in Yorkshire and across the countryto give it a go.

We’re absolutely delighted that Judy and our other Breeze Champions are back leading rides, and wWe hope that many who have discovered or rediscovered their love of cycling during the lockdown will keep up their new-found passion through HSBC UK Breeze.

It has kept me sane through these last 14 months of the pandemic. At the beginning of last March when it was announced that over-70s must self-isolate, I thought, ‘Oh no, what I am going to do?’ I live in a flat, which is high up and I hardly ever see a soul unless I go outside.

So for three months I rode my bike on my own and it was wonderful. I found tracks and trails and quiet roads near home which I didn’t know existed. I was going out three or four times a week. I felt a lot better for it.

I started my Monday morning Breeze rides again at the beginning of April and it was great to be back. I had kept in touch with the women via Zoom or WhatsApp throughout the year but it was lovely to get together with some I haven’t seen for over 12 months.

I sometimes think maybe this will be my last year as a Breeze leader — let some of the young ones take the responsibility! But I don’t want to stop cycling.

I haven’t been in a supermarket for over 12 months and I have no desire to. Going in pubs and restaurants I can manage without — just as long as I can get out on my bike.

Judy was speaking to David Coverdale