The diverse reality of cycling in the countryside, behind the clichés of elite athletes and militant neo-ruralists

Alice Peycheraud, April 2025

The Conversation

But who are the cyclists venturing onto country roads? The Tour de France contenders, of course! And tourists, who are increasingly taking to cycle routes. These images spring instantly to mind. But when we think about everyday travel, our imagination falters.

Are there any ‘everyday’ cyclists in rural areas, apart from cycling enthusiasts and committed activists?

A rural practice that has long been in decline

Cycling in rural areas is certainly not the norm. Yet bicycles were ubiquitous in villages until the 1970s. Since then, their presence has steadily declined. While it is difficult to obtain data as accurate as that for metropolitan areas, general figures on bicycle use tend to show that the trend is struggling to reverse.

While in cities, cycling is practical and fast, offering a comparative advantage over cars, the constraints encountered in rural areas seem to be blocking the way for bicycles.

The territory is organised by and for cars: not only do rural dwellers travel twice as far as city dwellers on a daily basis, but the roads and urban planning in rural areas are designed for cars. As a result, 80% of journeys are made by car.

Rural residents are thus caught in a trap created by a model based on cars, which is both environmentally harmful and socially exclusionary, but necessary in order to live in these areas.

Nearly half of all journeys are less than 5 km

However, there is potential for cycling in rural areas, where nearly half of all journeys are less than 5 km. In fact, observations and around 60 interviews conducted in three rural areas, Puy-de-Dôme, Saône-et-Loire and Ardèche, as part of my geography thesis, show that there are indeed cyclists in rural areas who use their bikes to go to work, shop or carry out other everyday activities.

Encountered at markets, in cafés or in pro-cycling associations, the profiles of these cyclists are varied: there are as many men as women, retirees, executives and employees. Looking at their practices and commitments also means taking an interest in the complexity of the rural areas they travel through and the new ways of living in these spaces, beyond the idealised images.

Beyond just sports enthusiasts, ways of making cycling accessible to as many people as possible

The emergence of electric bikes (whose full name remains ‘electric-assisted bikes’, or EABs) has greatly contributed to making cycling accessible to as many people as possible, reducing distances and sometimes steep hills. In rural areas, which are often affected by an ageing population, the roll-out of this technology is far from insignificant. Electric bikes are particularly popular among active retirees.

Fabrice (65, retired, Saône-et-Loire) timed his retirement to coincide with the purchase of an electric bike and took up cycling again after giving it up as a teenager. By adjusting the effort required, electric bikes also enable younger people to make more regular journeys that would otherwise be considered demanding. However, this tool alone cannot carry the hope of developing cycling in rural areas. Firstly, because it remains expensive; secondly, because it needs to be considered in the context of how it is used.

Safety and lack of facilities are often the first arguments put forward against cycling in the countryside.

In fact, some departmental roads are inhospitable to most cyclists. However, limiting rural areas to this network of ‘main roads’ would be to ignore their wealth of secondary roads and farm tracks. These represent a wealth of alternatives, which do not always require additional infrastructure, other than signposting and information provided by local authorities.

This could involve indicating a recommended route on a sign or providing a map of routes, sometimes with estimated journey times, as has been done in the Clunisois region. Knowing about alternative routes allows people to see the countryside beyond the prism of the car.

Cyclists also appreciate the sense of discovery associated with this different way of exploring their local area.

Cycling in rural areas is not just about covering long distances

Different strategies are emerging, depending on the approach taken by each cyclist. Some cyclists, often young men who are also keen sportsmen, tackle long distances and busy roads without too much apprehension. However, the majority of cyclists encountered, who have varied profiles, ride on the secondary network, avoiding stressful situations and covering shorter distances. It is these practices that would benefit most from public policy support.

Finally, a last group of respondents limit their cycling to town centres, hardly ever venturing into the interurban space. Small towns form an essential network in rural areas, providing local services. Many journeys within these towns are easily made by bike. However, although this cycling is far from rare, it is sometimes taken for granted by cyclists themselves.

Yet it helps to foster the local social life that is particularly valued by the inhabitants of these areas. Jeanne, a 70-year-old retired town hall secretary whom we met in a small village in Auvergne, explained that she had lived there ‘all her life’, always travelling by bike, and that everyone knew her. While being able to stop and chat is a feature of cycling in general, in rural areas it also feeds into an ideal of ‘village life’.

Cycling in rural areas is therefore also about investing in proximity, both spatial and social.

Choosing bikes over cars… but also for pleasure

Mobility is not defined solely by its material and functional dimensions: it always carries meaning and values. Three reasons are regularly cited to explain the choice of cycling: it is economical, environmentally friendly and good for your health. For Madeleine (60, local government employee, Puy-de-Dôme),

« It’s the economic aspect, and also the environmental aspect. I look at both. I don’t prioritise one over the other.‘

Nathanaël (42, temporary worker, Puy-de-Dôme) explains that ’on Friday, I came by bike. It’s because it means my knee doesn’t hurt anymore. » Of course, these reasons are also found among urban cyclists. However, in rural areas, they are particularly relevant in relation to the omnipresence of cars and their importance in people’s lifestyles.

Cycling is also a choice to escape the car culture, which is expensive, polluting and dominant in these areas. Nevertheless, few rural cyclists do not own a car, which is often seen as a necessity. Cycling must therefore find its place in more or less reorganised daily routines. For some, cycling is only an additional means of transport, used only when conditions are favourable: mild weather, sufficient time available, etc. Others are taking a more radical approach to their lifestyle, choosing to ‘slow down’ and reduce the number of journeys they make, doing most of them by bike.

However, limiting the reasons for cycling to these rational justifications would be to forget that pleasure is a key motivation.

People also cycle for themselves, above all. Of course, this emotional aspect of cycling is not exclusive to rural dwellers. Nevertheless, the rural environment has a particular influence on the practice: the relationship with nature and the landscape is widely praised by the cyclists we met. One mentioned seeing deer in the early morning, another the pleasure of riding along paths usually reserved for mountain bikers. Everyday cycling in rural areas perfectly embodies the growing blurring of the lines between leisure and ‘utilitarian’ activities that characterises contemporary society.

Cycling in the countryside is not just a practice imported from the city

While some areas continue to lose inhabitants, rural areas have generally regained their residential appeal. It would be tempting to see this demographic trend as a driver of the growth of everyday cycling in rural areas. Newly arrived neo-rural dwellers would thus import their habits acquired in the city, where cycling is making a comeback. This type of profile does exist, but it does not exhaust the diversity of the cyclists we encountered. A few nuances are worth mentioning.

On the one hand, until the 1990s, cycling was more common in rural areas than in cities. Some cyclists, now in their fifties and having always lived in rural areas, have cycled continuously throughout their lives and sometimes still ride bikes that have themselves had a long life.

On the other hand, the routes taken by the cyclists we encountered highlight the complexity of the links between urban and rural cycling practices. Residential trajectories are not linear and often involve moving back and forth between the city and the countryside, which colours the practice.

Mariette, a 65-year-old retiree, grew up and learned to ride a bike in a village in Saône-et-Loire. The purchase of a car made her stop cycling. She only took it up again twenty years later, when she moved to Grenoble, motivated by the city’s cycling culture. When she retired, she returned to the village where she grew up but continued cycling, this time on an electric bike, encouraged by meeting other local cyclists.

Often, moving to the city and the social interactions that take place there mark a milestone in the practice of cycling on a daily basis. But it is part of a whole series of other learning experiences and encounters. The prism of cycling therefore allows us to focus on the connections that are established between urban and rural areas, rather than on their stark opposition.

There are many ways to get around by bike in rural areas, from the most commonplace to the most committed, depending on individual strategies and motivations. However, they are all part of the overall organisation of rural life and the mobility that defines it. Supporting these practices therefore requires taking into account their diversity and engaging in collective reflection on the possible and desirable transitions in these areas.

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