I recently got my old bike brought up from back home so that I could spend a bit of summer riding around Manchester and cycling to new some spots. I absolutely love bike rides – they make me feel like a big kid again, and the empty city streets have made the perfect playground during lockdown…
I think I got this bike (black one with a basket) when I was around Nineteen/Twenty so a fair few years ago now! It’s not the best bike ever (it has a modest three gears in total), but I’ve really been benefiting from the post sweaty evening bike ride endorphins. The general route I’ve been taking has been quite the work out, but it’s been worth every second to feel that childlike sense of freedom that comes hand in hand with whizzing around on a bike.
I really needed to get myself outdoors more and away from my laptop, so bike rides have been a sort of therapy for me over the past few weeks. Previously, I was always too scared to bring my bike to a city centre because I’m just not the most alert/safety conscious person by nature. I was always worried about traffic or the roads being too busy in general so lockdown has sort of been the perfect opportunity to overcome that hurdle. It’s been a great to build my confidence up again and just do something active for the pure joy of doing it…
Amsterdam and Copenhagen are two of my favourite cities because of how bike friendly they are – I love the idea of just hopping on my bike and cycling to the local shop for food supplies. I think we rely on cars/taxis way too much and I’d love to see Manchester become more cyclist friendly over time.
There’s also something very romantic about riding a bike. The simplicity of it all – the way the breeze catches your clothing as you pick up speed, and the way your sandals drag against the floor as you prepare to come back down to earth again…
Photographs taken on a Contax T2 film camera
Cardigan c/o – Me+Em, Shirt c/o – And Other Stories, Trousers – Sézane (old season), Sandals c/o – Bellerose, Bag c/o – St Agni, Sunglasses – Gucci
SHOP THE LOOK
Ahhh, owning a bike in a city is a constant struggle for me at the moment. I live in Paris, and for the moment I’m too scared to own a bike because of the constant trafic. So for now, I guess I’m waiting for the city to be even more bike-friendly (it’s going there!). But your blog post reminded me of this sense of freedom that you can’t find anywhere else, or not like this. I hope I’ll find the same courage as you to own a bike in town 🙂
Evax
I’d be totally the same! I live in a less hectic area of the city and I’ve only really had a confidence boost with riding my bike because of lockdown. Most cities definitely don’t feel safe enough to ride bikes on the main roads but if you can find some quieter routes then it’s 100% worth it x
I love how bike friendly Amsterdam and Copenhagen are too. I’ve been to Amsterdam, but I think you need to be a confident cyclist to do it (as a foreigner), and also be used to following the road rules of driving/riding on the right. I usually just cycle to the library or around the neighbourhood, the roads are very busy and it’s full of massive four wheel drives. At least where I live, it’s legal for adults to ride on the path, as long as you’re respectful to pedestrians (sports cyclists never use the path, it’s always cruiser bike users). I would love for my city to be more bike friendly, but that’s going to require a lot of change to our car loving lifestyle, I’m afraid.
I own a stationary bike for working out, and I’ve considered getting a regular bike. It’s been a while since I’ve ridden a real bike, and I can imagine really loving it. The wind blowing through my hair and clothes. The different smells as I zoom through the streets. I might grab one of the bikes in my garage and ride today. Great post alice xx
Melina | http://www.melinaelisa.com
Thank you! And you definitely should – such a fun way to exercise if you’re feeling cooped up xx