Back in the Saddle Again

With all the recent snow, my bike spent more than two months hibernating in the carport. Now that even the last icy drifts are gone here, this morning I took it out again. I’m telling you, this was my first true spring moment this year. There I was on my faithful Drahtesel (wire donkey), hightailing it down the hill on my way to work. There was wind in my hair (the part that was protruding from my cap), I was dodging pedestrians and sticking my left hand out widely to indicate to drivers I was not leaving the roundabout just yet, thankyouverymuch. When I arrived at my workplace, my face was flushed both from the cold air and from exertion, and I was wide awake and ready to face the day.

Cycling in the morning is just so agreeable. In my opinion, nothing beats it for giving the day an energizing start. Its advantages:

• You wake up. If you have to ride down a road with a lot of traffic, make that become wide awake.
• You know you’re doing something for you health.
• You are utterly independent of traffic jams and parking spaces. Today after work, I went to three shops and the bank, each in a different street, and I didn’t have to worry about a single parking space.
• You are outside. The air is just fresher, the sky bluer, you hear birds singing and dogs barking. Facing a working day inside a building, it’s just great to get that breath of fresh air beforehand.

Mind you, there are some drawback, but I try to deal with them as well as I can.

• I wear clips to keep my trouser legs clean.
• In rainy weather, I wear my amazingly smart rainproof coat and my not-smart-at-all rain pants. The latter can be folded once they’ve dried and go into my bag if it’s not rainy on my way back. They also keep the cold at bay, so in winter I wear them every morning.
• I avoid busy roads as much as I can. With one exception, I can stick to quiet side roads and to roads with bicycle lanes.
• Getting sweaty is no problem, because I live up the hill. So the only time I must push the pedals really hard is on my way back, and I can wash or shower easily once I’m home.

Best about cycling is the amazing amount of independence it gives you. If you live in a small town, like I do, where everything can be reached by bike, you never need to care about bus schedules, change for car parks, or arranging with you husband when to pick you up. Yes, I’m truly happy to be back in the saddle again. And here’s a link to the song.