Get On Your Bike

Task 6- User Centered Cross-Platform Project

Get On Your Bike

This COULD be you.

A six-part radio cycling series and podcast taking in some of Britain’s most leisurely and scenic routes with tips and inspiration to get you back on your bike, guest staring some of our Olympic heroes and celebrity cyclists.

Forget football. Cycling should be our national sport. More and more of us are rediscovering the simple joys of cycling, whether to burn off the calories or to provide an excuse to consume them. There are over 20 million bicycles in Britain, but most lie unused in the garden shed. This series will inspire, motivate and give tips to get people back on their bikes.

The user profiles I wanted to appeal to are a 56 year old women who works as a community nurse and spends a lot of time in the car driving around with the radio on. In her spare time she likes to get out and do something active. The other was a 28 year old male commuter who managers a self service bicycle rental system. He spends two hours a day on the train using his laptop or i-phone.

Guests could include Bike loving Boris Johnson

The radio series would reach the older, time rich, leisure seeking demographic, whilst providing a podcast would make the content accessible to more digital savvy cyclists seeking out new leisurely experiences. The podcast also makes the information downloadable and portable for a busy on the go type to listen to at their convenience.

There would also be a mini-site with detailed maps to download to your phone or print from the website, top tips and links to the best cycling resources on the net.

With the focus being to attract more people to the sport, this series would focus on fairly easy routes that take in some beautiful locations that would make for a great day out with all the family. The programme itself would consist of our presenter talking with that weeks guest cyclist about where they are and what’s unique about the weeks route. They would also chat about how they got into cycling, share some of their favourite places to get on their bike and give some of their own personal tips like how to beat the saddle sores or even what makes for the best biking picnic!

Walkthrough:

Stage 1: You listen to the Radio Show, you feel inspired.

Stage 2: Log on to the shows website to find out more information and see pictures of the trip.

Stage 3: Tell your friends and family about the programme. They tune into the radio show or download the episode as a podcast.

Stage 4: You continue to tune in to the series and eventually decide to take the plunge and get on your bike.

Stage 5: Visit the website, chose your favourite route from the series or a suggested day out in your area.

Stage 6: Get your family together and enjoy a fun day out.

Stage 7: You catch the cycling bug, go back to the website to find a new route, find out how to join a local club, get fit and then tune in to Series 2 to hear about more advanced trails.

This project would be an ideal prospect for BBC Radio 4 as it would provide good value for money, entertainment and education and they already have a similar series for walking. It could also be a regional proposition.

Olympic cyclists such as Nicola Cooke share their tips

There is defiantly an audience for healthy living lifestyle programmes and with Britain’s current sporting success in Cycling many people have a renewed interest in riding, although they may not know where to start. Cycling can seem like a lot of hard work but there are beautiful routes out there for all abilities. You don’t even have to own your own bike these days as there are so many bike hire centers around the country. And even if you don’t fancy getting out there yourself you might still enjoy hearing the sports persons stories or learning a little bit more about what Britain has to offer.