People in Abergavenny have been able to borrow an e-bike for free, thanks to Monmouthshire County Council and Sustrans Cymru’s E-Move project. In this blog, we hear from Daniel, a professional storyteller, and his experiences.
Daniel is one of a number of people living and working in Abergavenny who's borrowed an e-bike from Sustrans Cymru. Credit: Sustrans.
Daniel, like a lot of people in Abergavenny and across Wales, often travelled by car for his work.
Being a professional storyteller meant that Daniel travelled around his local area to share traditional folk tales.
Now, he’s been able to make use of an e-bike for his journeys, enabling him to leave the car at home.
Since borrowing the bike, Daniel has been able to travel sustainably and actively for his work, but he’s also been able to explore more of the wild parts of Wales that he loves.
“I saw a poster on the window of the bike shop here in Abergavenny, so I phoned up immediately,” he explains.
“I’ve absolutely loved using the e-bike because the Black Mountains are very close by, but they get very remote quickly.
"It can be hard to find somewhere to park and there's no bus service into the Black Mountains, so the bike has enabled me to pedal up into those mountains and see places I've always wanted to see but have found inaccessible."
Helping to make travelling actively more accessible in rural Wales
Daniel has had a regular residency some 6-7 miles away from where he lives in Abergavenny, and for the first time in 17 years he’s been able to travel there without using the car.
“I haven’t ever got there in any way other than by car, up until borrowing the bike.
“Suddenly, I was seeing streams and houses as I travelled, I was seeing the landscape in a new way.”
Alongside his residency, where Daniel shares traditional stories with children and young people visiting the Welsh countryside, he’s also been able to get to other jobs thanks to the e-bike.
“I recently had a show at the Bear in Crickhowell, and I cycled there and back, which was good.
“I’ve also cycled to the railway station on a number of occasions and then taken a train to Cwmbran or Newport or Cardiff.”
Daniel has been able to use the e-bike for work, meaning he can leave the car at home and save money on fuel. Credit: Sustrans.
Exploring the wilderness of Wales on an e-bike
For Daniel, one of the biggest positives has been the way that the e-bike has enabled him to explore more of his local area.
“What surprised me was that I’ve been able to access bits of the Black Mountains that I didn’t know existed, they were just lines on a map.
“I did surprise myself on my very first trip, by burning all the way through the battery!
“I then had to cycle all the way back without the aid of a battery from Llanthony, which was a challenge because the frame of the bike – it was quite heavy, so yeah, I learnt my lesson from that.”
Looking forward, for Daniel, borrowing an e-bike has had an impact on how he views travel.
“The big question is whether or not I can find a way to actually own an e-bike, and if I could own one then yes, it would affect my travel plans, generally.
“Whether for social visits or work visits, I would be thinking about cycling to the railway station, taking a train, leaving the bike or taking a bike with me and trying to make those journeys without using the car.
"And that would mean we could possibly consider getting rid of one of our two cars, something my wife has wanted to do for a while."
A part of the solution, but not the whole answer
One of the challenges Daniel has faced with borrowing the e-bike has been where to lock it, underlining the need for greater cycling infrastructure.
“Sometimes bike rails are few and far between.
“They’re alright in Abergavenny, but once I got up into the mountains, I’d have to find some kind of fence or something.
“There were various places where I just couldn’t find anything, and they’re places where people like to walk, so if it could be joined up so that there’s somewhere to lock your bike in a car park or layby.”
