Round the world by mountain-bike

I am now a cyclist in the city of London. I regularly find myself zipping along the streets of concrete beside pavement walkers avoiding black taxis and people driving aggressively but I love to cycle in the city. There is a great sense of independence and freedom from winding through the mazes of the back streets of the city in order to avoid the main roads. I can feel the ebbs and flows of energy of the city; here busy and frantic or there calm and deserted.

After a while I build up a schematic mental map, upon which to navigate, which is based on landmarks, colours and memories of images and glimpses. It takes a while to build up this ‘map’ though. At first I found cycling in the city quite difficult and found myself often getting lost. This was often due to getting caught up in the flows of traffic. For example, I would follow the path of least resistance when I should have been turning off onto a side street.

When I was travelling by bike I regularly had to pass through cities and I would always get a boost of energy and find my destination. Even if I was really tired there was so much to look at; people, signs, lights and traffic to keep me ‘awake’ and ‘aware’.

This passage is from my diary from cycling through a city when travelling:

“My eyes flicking around, scanning for dangers, my arms shifted to turn the bike, reacting quickly, my legs powering with energy and then rotating as if just ticking over like a gyroscope helping to balance me and keep momentum. My head moves and rolls, with my brain like water inside. The world around me like the rocks jutting from a waterfall butI feel like it I can turn the waterfall upside down or put it horizontally so it is just a gentle stream.”

Riding a well designed bike is sometimes effortless. I glide around in an almost meditative state of flow. I realise that just like any piece of technology I regularly use it becomes a part of me,  so I am partly a product of my love of bikes- physically and mentally (what a weird thought, but true!). I choose my tools and they shape me; there is a process of feedback.

In terms of practicality, city cycling is ideal. There is no need for any other kind of transport in the city. I always grin to myself when I am able to slot past all the cars and skip right to the head of queues at the traffic lights, particularly when there are big fancy cars in the queue, and I think how much the cars are just for show and not for their performance.

We are now regularly organising cyclist meet ups in London, if you are interested,drop me an email: andy@ride-earth.org.uk