Clubs & Communities

Focus on… Cycling

From the playground to the podium and everything in between, Scottish Cycling is on a mission to encourage people to get moving.

The national governing body for cycling is committed to supporting everyone to experience the joy of riding a bike and to reach their full potential.

As the country’s largest cycling membership organisation, Scottish Cycling delivers a wide range of programmes, projects, and pathways designed to help everyone get moving and stay active.

Rock Up & Ride

Rock Up & Ride offers fun, free, and fully inclusive cycling sessions for children and communities.

These easy-to-access sessions connect with local cycling clubs to create a long-term, sustainable boost in cycling participation and encourage positive behavioural change.

Funded by Regional Transport Partnerships across Scotland, the project is removing barriers to cycling by improving access to bikes for people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Eligible children can engage in fun skills-based coaching sessions and receive a free bike with all necessary accessories.

The ‘Children’s strand’ of the programme used a bike gifting model, reaching 498 school-aged children through 10 cycling clubs and groups. For the first time, Rock Up & Ride was delivered in Shetland, adapted to meet the islands’ unique needs.

The ‘Communities strand’ used a bike library model focused on participation opportunities, partnering with nine community groups to deliver 1,290 participation opportunities from Aberdeenshire to the Scottish Borders. An Adaptive Bike Library model was delivered with Ythan Cycling Club, providing 92 inclusive participation opportunities.

To date, it has provided more than 8,000 cycling participation opportunities and distributed over 2,000 free bikes to individuals from disadvantaged, underrepresented, and marginalised backgrounds. Throughout its delivery, the programme has generated valuable learning on how cycling can positively transform lives and drive sustainable behaviour change by enabling and encouraging people to cycle more often for sport, recreation, and everyday journeys.

Rock Up & Ride has proved to be more than a participation initiative and is helping to reshape attitudes towards health, wellbeing, resilience, and the wider benefits of active travel. The programme adopts a community partnership approach, focusing on building individuals’ capability, opportunity, and motivation to cycle.

Check out how the project is developing by watching the video below.

The impact of major events

Major events can be a great opportunity to get active, encourage others to get moving and stay involved in sport - whether that’s a newfound inspiration from athlete performances, motivation to try a new sport or joining a club to build skills and make new social connections.

Launched as part of the legacy from the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, the Cycling Facilities Fund CFF has seen 31 completed facilities investments with new places to ride across the country from Orkney to Dumfries.

The £8million Cycling Facilities Fund (CFF) aims to build on the growing interest in cycling by developing a network of facilities across the country and deliver a tangible benefit from the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow and Scotland. CFF has been made possible through a £4million commitment from Scottish Government and £4million from sportscotland through National Lottery funds.

Administered jointly by Scottish Cycling and sportscotland, the fund has already delivered new cycling facilities in 70% of Local Authority’s across Scotland, with approximately 1.2 million using the new sites. You can find more about the Fund and where you can ride in your area here.

The Cycling Facilities Fund is directly supporting progress towards Scotland’s ambition for a more active Scotland where everyone benefits from sport and physical activity for their physical, mental and social health.

The next major cycling event to come to Scottish roads will be the Tour de France in 2027. As a key partner of the Tour de France Grand Depart, Scottish Cycling will be announcing an exciting range of initiatives to encourage participation and get more people on their bikes in the coming months.