13.6.2025
Pyöräilyinfo
Cycling is for all -series, PART 6
Helsinki Region Cyclists NGO (Hepo) interviewed a small group of people about their thoughts on cycling and inclusion. The blog posts can be read and viewed as videos in both Finnish and English. The purpose of the series is to welcome everyone to join us at the cycling paths and to highlight important cycling-related ideas that could help the cities of the Helsinki Metropolitan to become even better cycling cities.
The interviews were produced as part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Cycling Week 2025. The Cycling Week was coordinated by Helsinki Region Cyclists NGO (Hepo). The week’s events were organised together with the City of Helsinki, City of Vantaa, City of Espoo and HSL and other partners of the cycling field.
This is the second part of a six-part article series. You can access the other parts of the article series using these links.for parts First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth part. Tämä sisältö on olemassa myös suomeksi.
Author: Janina Vesala
SHARING CYCLING ENTHUSIASM WITH THE SPOUSE
Lastly, we reached out via email to Tiina. Tiina is from Oulu, now living in Helsinki, and enjoys cycling and outdoor activities, particularly in good weather. Tiina also has encouraged her spouse from abroad to get into cycling.
Tiina’s motivation for cycling comes from the freedom from schedules and the savings on parking fees. Cycling is also an important way for her to support her own health and well-being. ”In Helsinki, my favorite routes are the ones along the seaside with dedicated bike lanes, or the wide sandy paths in the forest near water,” Tiina says.
FROM CAR RIDES TO BIKE RIDES
Tiina encourages young people to cycle instead of riding electric scooters. She would also like to see more immigrants, whether alone or with their families, on bike paths. Like many of those interviewed, Tiina praises the city bikes for attracting more people to cycle. ”They offer an affordable and easily accessible way to integrate cycling into daily life without needing to buy your own bike. Additionally, the encouragement and example from someone close by can inspire many to try cycling,” Tiina says.
Tiina advises practicing cycling with an experienced friend in an empty parking lot, gradually moving onto bike paths. She shares her pearls of wisdom: you can always walk your bike if you feel uncertain at any point in traffic.
Tiina also has personal experience in encouraging her partner from abroad to cycle. Her partner comes from a culture where infrastructure is primarily built for cars, and cars are practically used for transport everywhere. Tiina tried for a long time to encourage her partner to cycle, but it was only after purchasing a bike that things started to change. Nowadays, Tiina’s partner cycles for groceries and to work, having realised the convenience of cycling, especially for short distances. ”We even sold our car a couple of years ago when we both started using bikes more regularly,” Tiina says happily.
ON THE WAY TO BECOMING A CYCLING CITY LIKE THE BIG ONES
According to Tiina, Helsinki’s transportation culture is still primarily focused on private car use and public transportation, even though there have been many positive changes over the past 10 years. Bike paths have improved, and city bikes have become a common sight. Coming from Oulu, winter cycling is quite familiar to Tiina, as she used to cycle all year round. However, the conditions of Helsinki’s bike paths in winter varies, and winter cycling also requires proper gear. ”I hope that in the future, Helsinki will increasingly profile itself as a cycling city, just like Copenhagen and Amsterdam have done. Just like Oulu,” Tiina concludes.
ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH HELSINKI REGION CYCLISTS – ALSO KNOWN AS HEPO?
We are a community and advocate for cyclists in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. Our goal is to improve the conditions for cycling and make the Helsinki Metropolitan Area a more pleasant, safer and smoother place to live and move around.
Helsinki Region Cyclists, aka Hepo, is an NGO focused on promoting cycling. Hepo has more than 1,500 members. Our goal is to influence law-making and traffic planning both on the local and national level. Hepo is not a political actor and is politically independent. In addition to influencing, bike travels have been an integral part of Hepo’s activities from the start and continue to be so.
By becoming a member you get access to member discounts and other offers for you and your bike. The annual member fee is 32 € and it pays back in no time. If you feel like making a difference in cycling conditions, you are welcome to join Hepo – in our activities or as a member. You get our member newsletter to your email once a month, member discounts from our partners – and you keep on track about cycling-related news and events.
By joining Finnish Cyclists’ Federation or any of its member organisations before September 28th, 2025 at 11.59pm, you have a chance to win Helkama’s electric bike (value approx. 2,800 €). Join Hepo now!
You can also take part in the draw by filling the Google Forms document.
Rules for the draw can be found on Finnish Cyclists’ Federation’s website.
Tulevat tapahtumat
Ma 10.11. klo 17:00 – 19:00
Vaikuttamisryhmän kokous
Tervetuloa Hepon vaikuttamisryhmän kokoukseen Polkimolle 10.11. klo 17-19! Kokouksessa keskustelemme ajankohtaisista pyöräliikenteeseen liittyvistä aiheista. Esityslistan luonnos: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vAXyqYLFbKn0UlkIHKI69HNqMhcPVftNTPoBu-B-SM4/edit Hepon vaikuttamisryhmä suunnittelee ja toteuttaa yhdistyksen vaikuttamistoimintaa yhdistyksen kokouksien vetämien suuntaviivojen mukaisesti. Vaikuttamisryhmä laatii kannanottoja, kommentteja, mielipidekirjoituksia ja blogeja yhdistyksen puolesta. Lisäksi vaikuttamisryhmä tapaa virkamiehiä ja poliitikkoja, toteuttaa kampanjoita ja tarvittaessa mielenosoituksiakin. Työ tehdään pääasiassa vapaaehtoispohjalta. Paikka: Iso Roobertinkatu 3-5 Sisäpihan/porttikongin kautta sisään, summeri "Kuvasto, Suomen Taiteilijaseura, Pyöräliitto, Pyöräilykuntien verkosto" 2. Krs. Tapaamiseen voi osallistua etäyhteydellä tämän linkin kautta: meet.google.com/wwf-tqst-swm Tapahtuma Facebookissa: https://fb.me/e/3Qi7FQXOA