A professional cyclist, an actress, a ministry employee or a young family. All these people have one thing in common - they have discovered the beauty of a bicycle and incorporated it into their lives. Here are some stories of the Hungarian Cycling Ambassadors who can inspire others by changing their lifestyle.

Cycling ambassadors are people motivated to engage in the process of improving the position of cycling and active mobility. Their motivating stories expressed by short videos show that travel behavior is rather influenced by lifestyles and long-term mobility-routines than by short-term rational choices.

Here are a few of the stories from Hungary:

Attila Valter

Attila is a professional cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Groupama–FDJ. He just loves cycling and uses every opportunity to promote cycling (and active life in general). “I think the city is perfectly livable with a bike, you can get used to it very quickly and in my opinion, cycling is a safe activity in Hungary,“ says the first-ever Hungarian who wore the pink jersey during Giro d'Italia.

Eszter Ónodi

When the popular actress, Eszter realized that for a long term she would commute from her city centre home to work in a city centre theatre, she got off her car and started to cycle. As she says, she wants not to get stuck in a traffic jam but to be able to manage her travel times. She also enjoys how cycling helps her to get ready for work (play), as well as to get back to “real life” after work.

Zoltán

A middle-level manager realized that his health and overweight issues follow his completely inactive lifestyle. That’s why he started to cycle, first with BuBi – public bike sharing system of Budapest. Then he bought his own bike and since then he has been commuting to work by bike 15 km-s in one direction. „I had serious concerns about cycling in the city, in Budapest, mainly because of the busy traffic. But I was able to gain experience with Bubi“ says Zoltán, who is currently working at the Ministry for Technology and Innovation. „When I bought my bike, I had a basic sense of security that it would work“ he concluded. 

Móni and Ábel

A family uses bikes for everyday purposes. „I was very surprised to discover that cycling was a good alternative to public transport, even for me. I thought riding a bike would be slower, but I was able to compete even with the Metro“ says Móni, a young mother of 3 children.

„We now use the car only when it is a significant advantage: for example when we have to carry a lot of stuff, or on holiday where we can visit a lot more places with a car“ adds her husband Ábel. They both agree how important it is to set an example for their children. So they raise their children to a sustainable behavior – to use their bikes whenever possible.

Source:KTI Institute for Transport Sciences Non Profit Ltd.