Breaking out the bicycles

I found out last night that my brother has signed me up to take part in the London Skyride on September 20th – which is something I am more than keen to get involved in.  He bought a new bike recently and has since been making his 19 mile round trip to work about 4 days a week.

His new purchase follows the trend for single-gear commuter bikes and, I have to say, it’s pretty cool.  My own bike, although equally good, has not had much of a chance to show off its relative performance, nor call upon its vastly superior number of gears because, for the last year or so, it has mainly been used as a clothes horse in the hall.

But the new spate of cycling initiatives may put paid to all of that.  This morning saw the beginning of the BikeTubes as the Mayor’s first Cycle Friday got underway which I believe is a great idea. A recent survey of our own staff revealed that just 5% of staff cycle into work, a number that we’d love to improve upon.

So the plan is to get back in the saddle at the weekend.  After all, as kids it was almost impossible to get us off our bikes.  Cycling’s fun, it’s something to be enjoyed.  Maybe it’s the one thing we can all do to feel like kids again.  You never forget how to ride one, but I wonder just how may of us have forgotten how it feels?

You can get more information and maps (including green routes) from TFL.