Sari Essayah is a Member of the European Parliament for the European People’s Party in Finland. Although better known for being a world-championship winning race-walking athlete, she has had a life-long connection to cycling. After she and her party supported the inclusion of references to cycling and EuroVelo in the regulations for the Trans-european Transport Network (TEN-T), we caught up with her at the European Parliament to talk about her life as an everyday cyclist.

Ben McEldowney - Tell us a little about your relationship with cycling. Do you bike for leisure, to commute, to travel?

Sari Essayah - Cycling was a big part of my childhood, for as far back as I can remember. My family didn't have a car and cycling was our method of transport to get into town, 8 kilometres from home. I had my own small bike and also a seat on the back of my mother’s, from which I saw a lot of the world.

I remember when I was being about 7 or 8 years old when we would take a day trip to cycle to my Aunt’s house, about 10 kilometres away. We would pack sandwiches and a bottle of juice and eat along the way. So cycling is part of some of my happiest childhood memories.

When I was 12 I got my first ‘proper’ bike, it was at the time one of the newest models from the Finnish bike manufacturer Tunturi and it had 5 gears. I was so proud! It was such a good bike that it lasted most of my life, through school, university, my athletic career – it was less than ten years ago when my husband decided that it was time to surprise me with a new one. And my kids laughed at me when my first reaction was – “What did you do with my old bike?”. I guess we had developed a close emotional attachment over all those years!

When I was elected as a member of the Finnish Parliament the bike was still an essential part of my commute. I would ride the 2-3 kilometres from home to the main road, where I could catch the express bus to Helsinki. I really appreciated this small amount of exercise in the mornings and the evenings, because for the rest of the time, the life of a parliamentarian involves rather a lot of sitting down!

BM. Something we find amazing, even at ECF, is how many Finns continue to cycle during the winter. Are you one of them?

SE. Yes. Of course you do need studded tyres. I would use an older, heavier bicycle with wider tyres than my normal one, but cycling on snow is no problem.

BM. EuroVelo route 10 passes through Turku. Did you know about it before our campaign? Is it a popular route for cycle tourists?

SE. The route around the archipelago has always been very popular with cycle tourists during the summer months. They do a lot of good promotion and there are even warnings from time to time telling cyclists to plan ahead when ferry services are filling up.

The routes are promoted as historic roads and pass through very scenic areas. Even still, lots of the cycling infrastructure which we built in the 1970s now needs updating, and lobby groups have been very active in working to make politicians aware of these issues.

BM. Can cycling and cycle tourism be of benefit to the local economy in regions like yours?

SE. I think these routes show that cycle tourism can be useful for the economy. And there is even more potential in Finland away from the archipelago. (Note. EuroVelo 11 and 13 take in very remote areas in northern Finland, with a network of farmhouse accommodation in place to help travelling cyclists).

We have also seen the benefits of cycling to the economy in Helsinki, where cycle courier businesses have been very effective in delivering mail and goods faster than any of their competitors. And of course government budgets benefit economically from all commuters who choose to cycle to work or in conjunction with public transport.

BM. Why did you and the EPP support the inclusion of a reference to cycling in the TEN-T (Trans-European Transport Network) regulations? Why should more European funding be made available for cycling?

SE. As you can tell from my background, growing up using a bike, for me, cycling is for every day. Just as other methods of transport - roads, rail, shipping have their place in TEN-T, cycling has its place too.

It’s good to note that the EPP is also a climate friendly party. Investment in cycling is obviously important from the perspective of climate change, but I find the thing that most people care about is the quality of air in cities. Investment in cycling can improve everyone’s quality of life in this way.

If people haven’t grown up with cycling as a day-to-day means of transport they may be quick to dismiss it as a sport or a leisure activity. For me it is quite natural that it is also a very good way of getting around.

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Photos - Zoé Kruchten

About the author

Benjamin McEldowney works as an Assistant with the EuroVelo team at the European Cyclists' Federation. An activist for greater recognition of the benefits of urban and rural cycling, he blogs and tweets about his projects under the alias @furiouslygreen