‘We need joined-up safe segregated cycle lanes throughout Bristol’

How brilliant and pleased with myself was I as a free-moving, childless adult living the life. I remember those simple days before I had a baby.

I still pride myself in the knowledge that I don’t add to the smoggy air pollution in Bristol while I now zip around on my electric bike with my 18-month-old daughter Maxie in her seat on the back.

I can just hear all those parents chuckling to themselves: you silly woman, you. No new parent has time to care about the environment. We must simply survive.

Little did I know how much I would envy car drivers in their polluting vehicles once I had a baby. Those lucky parents in their warm cars, able to carry every single one of their children’s belongings with ease: nappies, numerous changes of clothes, muslin cloths, all the hundreds of extra items you have to take out every single time you step out the door.

I meanwhile struggled on like a martyr, all those necessary items rammed into my pram like a packhorse.

How I regretted not learning to drive. My smugness at not contributing to pollution levels had been firmly wiped from my face. Replaced with tired black bags under my eyes and my stomach dropping at the thought of packing the pram once again.

Navigating the streets of Bristol with my precious new-born laying flat on the hard, safety recommended surface of her bassinet, wasn’t ideal.

It’s safe to say any anxiety about contributing to Bristol’s poor air quality was taking a firm back seat on the list of things I cared about. Coming after whether I could change my newborn’s nappy without making her too cold, and feeding her on tap without everything hanging out for all to see.

My sister, who had a baby around the same time as me, half-joked and half-cried a bit inside that it was like being held hostage in some kind of cute, torturous, baby Guantanamo Bay. Sleep deprivation was the number one form of torture by our perfect little prison guards.

I love my daughter very much, but life becomes very difficult when you spend the majority of time feeding your baby, wishing you could just get a sip of water with a bladder equally bursting at the seams.

And I was stuck without even my beloved bike. My joyful claim to freedom was no longer the simple mode of transport it once was.

I dutifully followed the recommendations of the American Association of Paediatricians: “If using a bicycle-mounted seat, adults should carry only children 12 months or older.”

This ruled out my main mode of transport for at least one year until Maxie was able to sit upright entirely unaided. I was a new mother, unable to get around the city and with my new-born in her huge bassinet. I felt stranded.

I adore my neighbourhood in east Bristol with all its creative individuals, beautiful murals and trendy coffee shops.

But the now treacherous and hilly nature of BS5 meant I couldn’t go very far without getting stuck on some broken curb or having to turn around at the next pothole because I was unable to lift my delicate new-born in her bassinet in such a way her head wouldn’t slide slowly to the top.

I couldn’t even get to a cafe and I was left feeling disconnected from community and – as is common for new mothers – very lonely.

So it was always with huge relief to wheel onto the smooth surface of the Bristol & Bath Railway Path: a safe haven for new parents and wide enough in places for dual traffic of both cyclists and walkers; as well as effectively being an elongated tree-lined park.

The Bristol & Bath Railway Path is a lifeline for many people – photo: Julian Sauvé

When my daughter turned one and was sitting upright unaided, I was able to think about dusting off my cycling gear and getting back out there on two wheels.

But I couldn’t just ride off into the sunset; I had to think about her safety on the bike first. My husband and I considered what the safest seating would be in the event that, god forbid, I had an accident with my daughter on-board. We concluded that a seat at the back was safer than one at the front in the event of a head-on collision.

After months of waking up every three hours to feed or placate my little pride and joy, the last thing I wanted to wrap my tired brain around was how I would get her into a bike seat.

Not only that, with a bike helmet on her soft and perfect head. As all parents know, small children absolutely do not want something on their head. They are the boss and they say no to headwear in every form.

If I was going to succeed in getting myself back in the saddle, I needed to make it work. And so I left her helmet with her toys so she could see it as a ‘fun’ item and took to wearing my own helmet around the house in some mad attempt to get her used to my strange new look, and hopefully to copy me.

This unsurprisingly didn’t work and eventually I had to give in and simply put the helmet on her head while she was crying, feeling like a terrible mother, before very quickly zipping out the door as a distraction.

Krista Yellowhammer and her 18-month-old daughter Maxie  – photo: Julian Sauvé

As much as I rave about the Bristol & Bath Railway Path, if my journey takes me anywhere further afield, I simply don’t have the guts to cycle on Bristol’s busy roads. I’ve seen enough dodgy driving to know it’s not the safest option and I certainly wouldn’t do it with Maxie on-board.

While the Railway Path is a lifeline, more needs to be done to create joined-up cycle paths throughout the city that are safe and useable.

There are a few cycle lanes that serve their basic purpose but these segregated sensations are mostly located in the city centre while elsewhere is plagued with narrow roads and pot-holes galore; hardly ideal cycling conditions, and not enough to tempt more tired parents out of their cars and onto bikes.

This is an opinion piece from Krista Yellowhammer, a mum of one from Eastville who works for the NHS

New segregated cycle lanes for the win, but not solely in the city centre please – photo: Martin Booth

Read next:

• Tips to make cycling in Bristol less sh*t
• ‘It is nonsense to say Bristol is one of the best places in the UK for cycling’
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• ‘I want a city which prioritises cyclists, walkers and wheelers over cars’
• More than two miles of new segregated cycle routes planned