After years of saying I would never ride a bike on the road, I have fallen hopelessly in love with riding my bike to work.
It’s one of the highlights of my day, and despite not being a morning person at all, I now get up at 6am so I can enjoy the bike paths when they’re less packed. This is a weird position to be in for many reasons, mostly because I spent my time as a motorist (and as a pedestrian) cursing cyclists for daring to exist.
Cycling during lockdown has been much safer.Credit:Simon Schluter
But now that I’ve seen the world from the other side, I understand that my problem was usually less with the cyclists themselves, and more with poor city planning that values cars over all else.
After not riding a bike at all (other than a stationary one at the gym) for nearly 20 years, the decision to hurtle my fragile, squishy, out-of-shape body down the asphalt where the fast-death vehicles are was not an easy one. In fact, during the induction tour at my new workplace I laughed out loud at the idea of riding a bike to work. But then came a perfect storm of motivating factors.
First, I am very impatient, and both walking and the somewhat indirect tram take far too long to get to my destination. Plus, the whole pandemic thing has made me even more wary of strangers and germs, and many of the people on my tram route come across as pustules of disease with a primary hobby of spitting on things.
I get to be out in the open air, mask-free, and not trapped with strangers in a metal tube, which is such a luxury during COVID times.
Separated bike lanes on major arterial roads have proved a hit with cyclists.Credit:Nick Moir
Secondly, my wife is starting a baking business and if I eat any more cake without seriously upping my exercise routine, I will have to buy new clothes, and I like my existing clothes.
But the factor that pushed me over the edge was the completion of a fully separated bike lane on a street near my apartment. That meant I would only need to expose my under-protected, breakable skeleton to cars for six blocks in my whole 6-kilometre commute.
It’s this relatively small upgrade to the CBD that has people like me feeling more confident to leave their car at home and ride to work, which in turn will reduce congestion and have long-term health benefits. I’m frankly shocked there’s been so much push-back on upgrading more bike lanes to be separated, as though motorists are the only users of our inner-suburbs that matter when both congestion and climate change are such undeniable problems.
Safety is always a concern.Credit:Andrew De La Rue
What I love about riding is the feeling of control over my commute. It primarily relies on what my body is capable of, with less emphasis on external factors. We’ve all been in control of so little for the last year, so having this one thing feels like a kind of freedom I’d forgotten existed.
Unfortunately, those unprotected six blocks on my commute involve running the gauntlet that is Chapel Street, which I didn’t realise was so notorious. I’ve seen plenty of riders come within centimetres of death on that street and had my own near-death experiences through carelessness of drivers. Many people just don’t look before they open their door into a bike lane, or seem to set themselves the challenge of seeing how close they can get their car to a cyclist.
Part of the problem is lack of awareness of the new road rules that say drivers must give cyclists 1-1.5m space (depending on speed). The other side of the problem is the complete lack of enforcement of said rule. A rule is pointless if it’s not enforced, and having a crackdown on streets like Chapel Street would save lives.
Cycling through lockdown has been incredible. Fewer cars on the road has meant that I’ve had more confidence to ride through parts of the inner suburbs that I never would have dared try.
The toe cage on my pedal snapped off and got stuck under my wheel on Russell St on a Friday night, pushing me into the middle of the road. In normal times I certainly would have been run over, but thanks to lockdown I just learned my lesson about toe cages and limped away.
The cycling community is very inclusive.Credit:Justin McManus
Another part of the problem is that motorists and cyclists have each been conditioned to see the other as the enemy, when our issue is really just poor road design and a lack of consideration for other forms of transport by town planners. The more time we spend pointing fingers at each other, the less time we spend lobbying the people who can actually do something to fix the problem.
I saw cyclists as my enemy for years, but from the moment I expressed interest in riding a bike I have been embraced by a supportive community of riders. Kind people online who answered my many questions about getting started. Lovely people in bike shops who showed me how it all worked. Not to mention fellow commuters who gave me words of encouragement as I slowly made my way up a hill, feeling like my heart was going to explode from exertion.
As areas get upgraded to be safer for cyclists, and public transport remains packed, there’s never been a better time to give cycling a go.
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