Bicycles are synonymous with Cambridge. The punts, the robes, the bridge of sighs- a bike with a basket propped against the sandy limestone of the college buildings is next on the postcard rack, right? Switching to a bike for my commute had been on my to-do list for years in Manchester, but it took a move to this cycling city for me to finally take the plunge. One year on, and with a winter’s worth of cycle-commuting, a fall, and over 500km under my belt- here’s what I’ve noticed:
(1) I’m far fitter- half an hour’s commute to and from work every day means I get a minimum of five hours of exercise a week without even trying. My first cycle to work was terrifying- I hadn’t owned a bike since I was 10, and arrived there completely out of breath and with white knuckles from holding onto the handlebars so tightly. Twelve months on, and I need to be cycling into a pretty strong headwind to arrive as tired as I used to. Who knows, I might actually start being able to tackle hills?
(2) It’s surprisingly mindful. I don’t wear headphones when I’m cycling, and the commute to work is such second-nature now that those half hours have become very valuable thinking time. In the morning I can plan my day, and it’s enough of a distance in the evening that I can take the time to unwind and leave behind stress. If anyone else is prone to the phenomenon of having their best ideas in the shower- I’ve found that the same applies to cycling, too.
(3) Air pollution changes from something that was previously fairly abstract into something that will dictate whether you arrive into work fresh as a daisy or with a headache and lungs that feel like they have a thin film of acid on them. On weeks the schools in Cambridge go back, the difference all the additional cars make to the journey is pretty scary. Thankfully, not all on my route is on a busy road, but it’s enough to keep me constantly on the lookout for roads less travelled.
(4) You pay far more attention to the weather. My weather app is now an oracle which will tell me whether I’ll be cycling in on a crisp spring morning- wonderful- or cycling while it’s chucking it down -less wonderful. Having said that, the feeling of a hot shower after you’ve ridden back in a downpour if one of life’s great pleasures… so if any and all rain could hold off till around 5pm each day, that would be grand.
(5) You get an immense feeling of smugness knowing that your journey was carbon neutral and didn’t release a load of pollutants into the air. Seriously, knowing that you’re “part of the solution”, as it were, is a great feeling. I know that cycling won’t be for everyone- some people can’t, some people live too far away, and that’s absolutely fine. But I’m part of the demographic where there really isn’t much of an excuse not too, and the feeling of doing my bit is very satisfying indeed.
(6) It saves a considerable amount of money. Getting a bus from my house to work would cost me £4.50 per day, so managing to cycle in every day means a weekly saving of £22.50- and that’s before counting in weekend trips. I think of those savings on drizzly mornings- on more than one occasion it’s the one thing that’s stopped me from heading in the direction of the bus.
(7) Narrow cycle lanes that essentially keep you in the gutter, cars parked across them, pot holes that can throw you over the handlebars. After a few months of cycling you begin laugh knowingly at tweets like the ones below, and realise just in how many ways the car is still king.
(8) Finally, you realise that cycling is a joy in and of itself. I’ll admit that having the opportunity to cycle around one of the most beautiful cities in the world- past the spires of the colleges and the rows of beautiful houses, through the commons and along the river- definitely makes it easy to appreciate this form of commuting. But there’s something about the exercise and the breeze and the speed that you just don’t get from any other form of transport. I hope that me and my little hybrid (which I’ve grown very attached to, despite trying not to) will be pedalling around for a long time to come.
