I am 34 years old. I am a wife and mother of one. I love all kinds of sports and have been involved in a fair few over the years; bodybuilding, running, swimming, cycling, triathlons and I have played netball for most of my life. Recently, while playing netball I dislocated my knee, tore some cartilage and am now waiting for surgery. So, while I wait for surgery, the netball has ceased, as has the running and every other sport that I love to do, that is all except the cycling.
To my pleasant surprise, cycling is the only exercise or sport that doesn’t hurt my knee.
Before moving to the Hawke’s Bay we lived in Stratford in Taranaki. I worked in New Plymouth, which at the time took me 45mins to drive to and from work every day. I despised the commute and used to wish I didn’t live so far from work. Then just over a year ago, I got a job in Hastings and we moved to Havelock North.
Since moving to the Hawke’s Bay I have been cycling to work most days. It is the first time I have lived within cycling distance of work and I love the fact that I not only get some extra exercise in my day, but I have saved huge amounts of money on petrol and car expenses.
While I know there are lots of reasons why driving to work is easier; no changing of clothes required, no backpack to carry your suit and your heels, you can turn the heater on and it is most likely faster, the benefits of cycling are truly great; you get fit, thanks to the endorphins you are happier when you arrive to work, it is actually fun and you definitely get to see more on the commute. Given the significant health and financial benefits I find myself constantly questioning why there are not more people cycling?!
As you can see from the photo of me cycling to work on Thursday, you don’t actually need to wear lycra, or any special cycling gear, you can cycle wearing almost anything as I did in the rain on Thursday, maybe not your heels, but I just leave those at work. The heater isn’t needed as you will no doubt be warm by the time you get to work and think of all of those calories you have just burnt getting there!
Now, I know cycling in the rain doesn’t actually sound like that much fun, but let me tell you it is honestly better than sitting in the car and realistically in the Hawke’s Bay it is very rarely raining.
It feels good passing all those motorists sitting in their cars crawling through the streets trying to make their way to work. Where there are cycle lanes, I simply pass them all by.
I am always amazed by the kids I see every morning cycling, or on their scooters or walking. More often than not, they are smiling and laughing and I often think to myself how you don’t often see people sitting in a car smiling or laughing. Maybe exercise is truly the key to happiness? There is a poem about sharing a smile and it comes back to you, well cycling in the morning and seeing these kids enjoying life is a bit like that. It makes me smile and when I get to work, I am in a much better mood than I would ever be if I had driven.
When we moved to the Bay, my husband owned a Chevrolet 4x4 and I had my own car. As I was cycling to work and didn’t need two cars, we decided to sell the 4x4 and keep only the one car. My husband then bought us both a mountain bike (I have tended to only ever own a road bike). We also bought a toddler seat that goes on either bike for our four year old son. During the majority of the summer, my husband cycled most days to take our son to daycare and anywhere else they wanted to go. My husband says it beats driving through town any day! and I think secretly they both like the attention they get from the people who stop and stare and no doubt think it looks quite cute.
As a family, we are always on our bikes, and more often than not will choose our bikes to go to the supermarket for that bottle of milk, or to go to our favourite cafe for brunch on the weekend. Our son will quite often beg us to go for a bike ride after work or on the weekend and now gets grumpy if he can’t use his own bike - because he is a big boy now don’t you know!
So in short, we have made cycling an everyday part of our lives and we feel much better for it. It hasn’t been difficult and I suppose it helps we still have a car as well, but it rarely gets used compared to our previous life. My worry is that here, I am preaching to the converted; however I am hoping that consistency is the key to success of getting more people on bikes. The more we ride our bikes daily, the more it becomes a consistent theme in the daily experiences of those drivers and hopefully the accepted norm. While I don’t think we will ever see more bikes than cars on our roads, if I can just encourage one other person to cycle to work every day, I think I will have made a difference. Imagine if all of us who cycle convinced just one other person...
Great blog Katrina!
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