Cycling For Work
This week, we celebrated Cycle to Work Day, as companies and organisations across the country worked together to encourage more employees to get on a bike to the office. We’ve written before of the joys of ditching the bus and hopping on your bike and we know that lots of people in our community use our bike lights for the trip.
For most people, cycling to work means parking up your bike at the office in the morning, and picking it up at the end of the day to head home. But not for everyone. For some people, the morning commute is just the start - these lucky people cycle FOR work, all day every day.
So if you’ve fallen in love with your cycle commute and you just don’t want to get out the saddle, here’s our ideas for the best jobs you can do where you’ll be cycling all day long.
High speed courier
Perhaps the most recognisable job on two wheels short of being a pro, bike messengers and couriers spend the day carrying documents, parcels and other items between locations in big cities. These cyclists are renowned for being the fastest method to get your item from A to B, no matter the traffic, since a bike can skip the lines of stationary vehicles and zip through the streets no matter the time of day.
If being a full-time bike messenger is a step too far, food delivery platforms such as Deliveroo offer flexible shifts so you can sign on when you’re available and get paid for your cycling. Take inspiration from this rider who signed up to Deliveroo to get fit and raise money for charity.
Delivering the goods
Not all deliveries are urgent or time sensitive, but moving parcels around by bike still makes sense in lots of places. Delivering by cargo bike avoids both traffic and congestion charges and doesn’t add to the air pollution problem.
Friend of Beryl, Vincent Lasseaux, gets plenty of cycling in while making deliveries for his champagne business across London.
Cargo pick up and recycling
If you’re really in love with cycling, you can build a whole business out of picking up and dropping off. Pedicargo is a business in Hereford which focuses on getting things picked up and delivered in the greenest, cleanest, quickest way possible. The team is out and about all day, dropping off parcels, picking up waste that needs to be recycled and providing a first-rate delivery service for local businesses.
And it’s not just parcels that Pedicargo moves around - their special bike trailer is designed to get Beryl Bikes back to their bays or to the workshop for maintenance without a van in sight.
Bikeability instructor
While many cycling jobs involve some kind of collection and delivery, you don’t have to carry anything to be able to cycle for work. One job where you’ll spend lots of time on your bike is a bikeability instructor. Bikeability or Cycle Confident instructors help teach people how to ride a bike as well as giving instruction on how to cycle safely in different situations such as busy roads.
Many people say that they would cycle more if they felt safer on the road, so training how to be a bikeability instructor will let you share your passion with others and help get more people cycling in your city.
Ice cream tricyclist
The tune of an ice cream van is one of the true sounds of summer. But a traditional van isn’t the greenest way to get tasty ice-cold treats around. Enter the ice cream tricycle. A three-wheeled cargo bike designed especially to keep things cool on a hot day, these trikes are popular for weddings, fairs, parties and at the beach. And while you may consume a little more ice cream than normal, you’ll be sure to work the extra calories off cycling around!
Emergency services
In an emergency, getting to the scene quickly is crucial for the emergency services. And in busy cities, we know that bikes are quickest and able to easily go where vehicles can’t. That’s where paramedics and first aiders on bikes come in. London Ambulance service cycle responders have custom-made bikes designed to carry all the kit needed to start life-saving treatment before an ambulance arrives. And they can cover some serious distance, often clocking up over 100km in a 10-12 hour shift!
First aid organisations such as St John’s Ambulance also have cycle responder units who you might see at large public events. These are staffed by highly-trained volunteers who are ready to give assistance until paramedics get to the scene.
If you’re not quite ready to switch jobs and start a career in the saddle, getting on your bike for your commute is still a great option. Have a look at our guide to start cycling to work - once you switch you’ll never look back!