A sense of the cycling environment: Felt experiences of infrastructure and atmospheres

This paper explores how cyclists gain a sense of the environments they move through by considering their felt experiences of the affective atmospheres that emerge in and through their movements. More specifically, the focus falls upon how various forms of transport infrastructure choreograph bodies in their movements through the city and so contributes towards the co-production of various affective atmospheres between differently mobile bodies. Drawing on video interviews with 24 commuter cyclists in Plymouth, UK, the roles that such infrastructures and atmospheres play in shaping the experience of cycling through shared forms of transport space are considered. Based on this, the paper argues that such felt experiences of affective atmospheres should be considered further in planning for cycling and when evaluating future developments.