The 'real' Lance Armstrong: 7 times Tour de France winner, Paris-Nice prologue March 2005

A very happy, tired Lance Armstrong impersonator having just cycled up the Col de Tourmalet - the highest road pass in the French Pyrenees, July 2005

My Twitter profile (@claireant) reads: ‘independent arts consultant, mum-of-two-toddlers, former professional cyclist’. It’s a slight exaggeration – I was never a professional cyclist, but I used to be a very keen cyclist and cycling fan. Along with art, cycling, mountains and France are my main passion – so I’m a keen fan of the Tour de France.  Lance Armstrong has dominated the Tour for the past decade, after battling cancer in his mid 20s he went on to win the race a record-breaking seven times. He’s also become a powerful symbol of hope for cancer-survivors and raised millions for his cancer charity Livestrong.

It’s traditional for spectators of the Tour join in with the party atmosphere as the Tour passes through their town – decorating their houses, creating crazy sculptures, dressing up  - so as the peloton prepare to head up the Champs Elysees tomorrow on the final stage please excuse my Tour folie as I consider the lessons we might draw from the Tour, and Lance in particular, for thinking about how we can engage people with art:

1. Understanding leads to enjoyment

The more I understand about cycling, the more I enjoy watching the Tour de France. Knowing the challenge presented by the course, understanding the strengths and form of the individual riders, thinking about how today’s heroes compare with the great Eddy Merckx or Faust Coppi – the more I know about the history of the Tour or the current crop of riders the more I anticipate the race and engage with it. In 2005 I watched early season races in person (where I took the photo of Lance above warming up for Paris-Nice), followed riders’ progress in Equipe and followed debate on the cycling forum (see below). In June/July 2005 I also rode slowly up many of the same cols (a col is the high point on a mountain road – usually going over the shoulder of the mountain) that the riders would be doing later – thus giving myself firsthand knowledge of just how long, hard (and beautiful) those climbs really are. I’ve not had the time to follow cycling so much in recent years and consequently I don’t enjoy the race as much as I used to.

Lance’s lesson: learning enables greater enjoyment. For the spectator that means, the more you put into learning the more you are likely to enjoy (and art, like cycling, replays effort and learning). For the arts organisation that suggests we need to enable visitors and audience members to learn more as a route to enjoyment (and not telling them what to think, but enabling them to discover for themselves).

2. The power of super-users

How did I develop my knowledge of cycling? I read books, and cycling magazines, but there’s relatively little published on cycle racing in the mainstream media so getting hold of information about what’s happening can be challenging. That’s where other cycling fans come in – and web 2.0. Five or six years ago I discovered the BBC online cycling forum which was a space for enthusiasts to share information and opinions – and for novices like me to ask questions which others took great delight in answering. The BBC’s own journalism was pretty poor in comparison – many forum members knew more about cycling and the official posts served more to provoke discussion than inform. I would visit – as I’m sure many did – to read other forum members’ posts, not the so-called expert journalists. As with many online communities there emerged an unofficial hierarchy with a handful of highly knowledgeable and active users (some people must have spent hours contributing each day). And when the BBC editorial policy – and online forum format – changed, and we didn’t like it, we developed out own independent site which continues to this day at justcycling. I used to contribute and enjoyed being able to share my passion or experience with others – or sometimes just my personal views. And I gained a huge amount of information, insights and enjoyment from hearing the views and ideas of other non-professionals. I’ve not used the site for a few years, but there’s a community of 350 members from around Europe and North America, many of whom have posted more than 3,000 messages.

Lance’s lesson: there’s lots of expertise and passion among non-professionals – many of us enjoying sharing what we know and are happy to support new learners looking for support, and we enjoy contributing to debates. Not everything needs to be provided by experts and offering a platform for interested users to meet and share ideas can be a very effective (and cost-effective) way of supporting learning and engagement.

3. The link between spectating and doing

When I see the professionals charging up the hills on their bikes I long to be on mine! I’m not alone in wanting to join in – each year many thousands of amateurs bid to test themselves against the pros by riding the hardest stage of the Tour that year in an event called the Etape du Tour – it’s massively over-subscribed. I know I’ll never really be a pro cyclist – but seeing the pros reminds me of what I love about riding my bike and makes me want to get it out of the shed and go for a spin. And, having slogged slowly up some of the major climbs of this year’s tour I enjoyed seeing the real pros tackling those same, familiar climbs.

Lance’s lesson: some people enjoying doing as well as watching and these two activities – which we try and keep separate in the arts – can nourish one another.

4. Offer different ways to join in

There are many ways you can get involved in pro cycling: you can watch on TV or turn up on the route and watch for free. Before the race it’s possible to chat to the riders as they warm-up, and for the Tour de France there’s a whole tradition of decorating houses along the route, people dressing up and having parties etc. Lance Armstrong took joining in further still with his yellow Livestrong wristbrand phenomenon which raised millions for his cancer charity and enabled millions of people to show their support for his causes. Lance is also a Twitter phenomenon – sharing insights into his training, his daily life, is preparations for the race.

Lance’s lesson: Offering people many opportunities to get involved with cycling, with various levels of engagement, encourages support and enables enjoyment.

So, far-fetched as it may sound – there’s much we can learn from how cycling engages with its fans about how we can develop relationships with our audiences.