Well I didn’t think I’d be writing an article like this, but here we are. The start of the month is of course the usual time when we talk about what is happening bike-wise in Christchurch for the coming few weeks. However, any plans that anyone had for organising events and activities for now are all on hold as we see out the COVID-19 lockdown.
It means that regular favourites like the RAD Bikes workshops are cancelled for now (but you can still support their great work financially!). Other popular events have either been postponed (like Le Race last month; now in September) or on hold for now (like the Big Bike Film Night originally next month).
So does that mean your trusty treadly should simply gather some dust and rust in the garage? No; as mentioned the other day, now more than ever is a great time to get outside and have a ride – just be responsible about where and how you do it, and keep your distance from other people. Judging by the current count figures on SmartView, it looks like plenty of people are doing just that! Failing that, you could just set up the stationary bike stand and get a workout at home…
Stay safe in your bubbles everyone; if we get through the next few weeks OK, maybe we can start dreaming about a few more rides together again in the near future…
Have you been out on your bike lately?
There may be an upside to all this, judging by the number of cyclists dragging out their dusty old bikes and cruising the local streets some with children smiling and waving to other cyclists and enjoying themselves they may just get into the habit of cycling.
I hope so Davinia! It’s so nice to be able to take more of a look around while out and about for my daily ‘sanity rides’, actually looking at the many cute little house around my area, looking for teddy bears in windows etc rather than being 100% focused on defensive safe riding, looking around for traffic all the time, down side streets, driveways, behind me etc (obviously you still need to be aware, even with so much less traffic, but it doesn’t take ALL the focus at the moment). Definitely need to be aware of pedestrians too, many of whom have got so used to the low traffic volumes that they just step out onto the road without looking!!!
But overall, so relaxing cruising down wee streets I wouldn’t usually have any reason to go down, and exploring my neighbourhood