I admit it, I only became a cyclist accidentally.
At the end of 2021, I had a couple of seizures and got diagnosed with epilepsy. As a result, I lost my driving licence and I'm not due to get it back until July.
I love cycling now - no, I don't have a Lycra fetish, I promise - and I am uncertain as to whether I will ever go back to driving (although I might have to).
Yesterday, I did the school run in the rain by bike, riding through puddles with my feet held out in front to avoid getting wet. It was fun. Back home, I returned to work at my desk and watched the rush hour traffic build up outside our house: motorists, mostly alone, ensconsed in their little dry bubbles, singing along to the radio, checking their teeth in the mirror or staring absently at the brake lights ahead.
I don't hate motorists, but I have come to pity them. I was like them once; looking down on those exposed to the elements. Now, I get a quiet thrill from holding them up and weaving past them in traffic or pressing the pedestrian crossing button near my house and bringing the cars to a stop.
I know that I would never have chosen to hop on my bike in the rain if I didn't have to. I may have come to love it - now, it would be my choice - even cycling up the steepish hill that leads to our house. I pant onto the driveway and it takes me a while to get my breath back, but I feel fitter, leaner and stronger than ever. I love my journey into Reading along the banks of the Thames and the Kennet, looking out for herons and other wildfowl.
I may be late to the party, but I got here. And I'm not alone: cycling is shown again and again to boost both health and well-being.
But, how do we get the majority to see the joy in leaving their cars at home?
I find it incredible that despite knowing what is happening in the world, people can sit so blithely in traffic, engines running, knowing that they are contributing to making our planet hotter and more unstable.
This is California right now, for example:
And this was Australia at the start of the week:
Why aren't people taking to the streets and demanding change? How do we get the message across?
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