Cycling UK Forum

Over the decades I’ve covered a few miles on my bikes and worn out some stuff, of course many others will have done much more but thankfully it’s not a competition - or, at least, not one that I need to win. Over those miles, some covered for pleasure and some for necessity, I’ve been glad of the great freedom that a bike has given me; for me a bike has been a liberator.

It struck me that a journey on foot which takes me 30 mins is covered in 10 minutes on my bike and that that pace had allowed me to go to many places that would otherwise be impossible or impractical. In the lockdown I covered some distance in my daily hour of away from home exercise. As a young man I used to visit a special friend who lived 20 plus miles away (you couldn’t walk that on a Friday night) and cycling to work from lodgings allowed a much greater selection than would have been possible with walking. Even just twice the speed allows access to four times the area … or something like that.

At the other end of the spectrum car travel can be very quick but how much quicker than by bike and over what roads? Cars are costly to run too, but perhaps that’s not a particularly critical factor for a big percentage of users. My guess is that open road motoring is four times quicker than cycling, but around town that multiple drops a lot and might even go below one.

In your daily life how would you rate cycling on a liberating factor scale and why?

I can tell you how liberating people found it almost a century ago, because one of my neighbours is 101 years old, and one day when I was tinkering with a bike she came along and started chatting about what a bike meant when she was a girl.

She said that when her father gave her her first bike it was the most liberating thing that ever happened to her (those exact words), because it allowed her to get beyond the tiny village where she grew up “under her own steam”, to decide where she would go, and what she would do. It was clearly ‘a big thing’ for her.

Yes, but it can not be described, for words are created by man.

But the feeling of liberation by bicycle is given by something higher. A stronger, more spiritual force. The sense of wonder, joy, connectiveness that good cycle ride can bring is more than words. Its an affirmation of love shown by the universe which otherwise at different times feels cold, and stark.

I never knew daily exercise was time limited - I could be away 12 hours +, best cycling year ever with empty roads and over cautious drivers.

But as a liberating factor, whatever that might be? - I have been a visitor to Edinburgh for many years, and this last couple of years I have been taking my bike on those days and learning the city, (I'm really just a country bumpkin when it comes to cycling) And although a bit daunting at first, I am learning all the cycle routes and short cuts, and I have also gained confidence in being in heavy traffic, (I have never overtaken as many cars and wagons) Just fantastic!

I'm wondering if this ability to move fast and free across a busy city is the 'liberating factor' of which you mention. It is just wonderful, and very addictive, is there a quicker, better or more exhilarating way to move from A to B in a big city ? After years, a life time, of being stuck in heavy traffic in cars and wagons, cycling is very very addictively liberating when in a busy city.

For me I pass a good view in the car and no chance of stopping to sketch or birdwatch.
The bike allows me to stop, pull over and look at whatever caught my attention. Walking is fine but on the bike I can quickly get to the best bits with not much effort.

cycle tramp wrote: ↑14 Sep 2023, 9:24pm Yes, but it can not be described, for words are created by man.

But the feeling of liberation by bicycle is given by something higher. A stronger, more spiritual force. The sense of wonder, joy, connectiveness that good cycle ride can bring is more than words. Its an affirmation of love shown by the universe which otherwise at different times feels cold, and stark.

I like that. It's illogical, but ever since I realised that I could cover some distance by being self powered and self empowered without actually dying, some of my best days have been in conditions that most people would regard as crazy.

After being caught in a snowstorm on a remote road, fixing a puncture, slipping and sliding over a summit then seeing a magical shining landscape spread out below like a bowl, with lights from occasional farmhouses under a gathering night sky. Gingerly riding downhill on a skin of snow, walking past a frozen waterfall where ice had formed across the road. It was internal as well as external. It was so strangely other worldly.

Riding through a summer rainstorm where I was drenched in seconds yet the pleasure of riding through a wooded landscape was enhanced rather than diminished by it. It was almost a trance like state with the cascading of water along the road, the sound of rain on the trees and
surrounded by the white noise of falling water. I continued to ride, embracing the experience.

Getting back on home territory after being unexpectedly delayed on a long ride. 1 am on a warm summer night, an empty lane, no moon or stars, just me and a dynamo light creating a pool of light in the inky blackness. Only the small sounds of the bike to disturb the silence. The rustling of night creatures in the hedges, irritated sounds from roosting birds as I passed. The darkness turned up the volume on my other senses. The smells of the night. Ears tuned to more distant sounds, the empty barking of an early morning dog setting off others across the distant fields. Sheer magic. For a short time, I was the night.

And many others.

Just words, symbols on a page, transformed into images in the mind, maybe generating feelings.

Of course there are times when a bike can feel like an instrument of torture too but for the most part, for me, it's been pretty liberating over the years.

Pebble wrote:-

"I never knew daily exercise was time limited - I could be away 12 hours +, best cycling year ever with empty roads and over cautious drivers."

Yes. That was a brilliant year. I certainly went out for hours (I had to really as at my usual rate of progress I'd never have got anywhere otherwise).

Carlton green wrote: ↑14 Sep 2023, 6:56pm Over the decades I’ve covered a few miles on my bikes and worn out some stuff, of course many others will have done much more but thankfully it’s not a competition - or, at least, not one that I need to win. Over those miles, some covered for pleasure and some for necessity, I’ve been glad of the great freedom that a bike has given me; for me a bike has been a liberator.

It struck me that a journey on foot which takes me 30 mins is covered in 10 minutes on my bike and that that pace had allowed me to go to many places that would otherwise be impossible or impractical. In the lockdown I covered some distance in my daily hour of away from home exercise. As a young man I used to visit a special friend who lived 20 plus miles away (you couldn’t walk that on a Friday night) and cycling to work from lodgings allowed a much greater selection than would have been possible with walking. Even just twice the speed allows access to four times the area … or something like that.

At the other end of the spectrum car travel can be very quick but how much quicker than by bike and over what roads? Cars are costly to run too, but perhaps that’s not a particularly critical factor for a big percentage of users. My guess is that open road motoring is four times quicker than cycling, but around town that multiple drops a lot and might even go below one.

In your daily life how would you rate cycling on a liberating factor scale and why?

On a scale of 1 to 10 it would have to be 10. The only drawback with a bike is security if you are on your own but as for actually riding I would still give it a 10.

Off the scale for myself. Not unlike the second post, having bike meant I could go further afield.... not sure parents always knew just how far occasionally..... never even considered what would happen if I had had a puncture that was outside my scope of experience at that time.

The bicycle was massively liberating for women and in the fight for equality.

Not sure I understand what is meant by security, I've only twice felt potentially threatened in Britain and never whilst touring abroad inc New England.
1. on a cycle path / former through lane near some industrial units, I am guessing he was an overnight security guard walking his dog before going home, dog was off the lead and he was on the phone... dog chased and had me cornered by a gate..... he was reported to the police... and whilst I was on the phone he and dog were getting into a car so I was able to report his reg no.... It struck me afterwards how easy it could be for someone to hold another person up with a dog and rob or worse..... with a new housing estate near by it was entirely feasible that someone who had dropped a child off at school could be using to walk their dog.. and this was a potentially dangerous situation.
2. I was on the road into Preston, i rarely used the adjoining shared cycle route due to it's design, on this occasion i was glad because there were 5 youfs spread out across the path and I would have had to cycle between them... as it was one of them lurched out towards as I passed on the road.

I was thinking more about bike security, if you had to stop somewhere and chain it up, loo stops, etc. A lot easier to keep an eye out if there's two or more rather than when you're on your own, as I usually am.
As for feeling threatened on a bike, this has rarely happened, and not at all in recent years since I started riding recumbents, though it isn't something to be complacent about.

I moved from one village to another about 4 miles away when I was aged 7. All my old friends were in the old village. I got a bike for my 7th birthday learned to ride it and I was away back to the old village. Such freedom I’ve never forgotten it. This was back in the 60’s I’d go out in the morning and back for tea. Still feel like that now when I go out. I’ve put basic cycle computers back on my bikes. Distance is my thing, my speed depresses me so I’ve used tipex to cover everything on the computer screen except the distance.

a.twiddler wrote: ↑15 Sep 2023, 4:32pm I was thinking more about bike security, if you had to stop somewhere and chain it up, loo stops, etc. A lot easier to keep an eye out if there's two or more rather than when you're on your own, as I usually am.
As for feeling threatened on a bike, this has rarely happened, and not at all in recent years since I started riding recumbents, though it isn't something to be complacent about.

Depending on where I am I have taken it into the loos with me..... esp as the faff of locking it somewhere suitable and walking to the building can take longer than the act itself

I think this website says it all: https://bicycleforgirlsinkenya.weebly.com.

For a historical view look at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycling_and_feminism.

Pebble wrote: ↑15 Sep 2023, 12:33am I never knew daily exercise was time limited - I could be away 12 hours +, best cycling year ever with empty roads and over cautious drivers.

It varied from country to country. Some limited by time, some by distance. Some, including England, limited not at all but ministers confused matters.

eileithyia wrote: ↑16 Sep 2023, 10:12am

a.twiddler wrote: ↑15 Sep 2023, 4:32pm I was thinking more about bike security, if you had to stop somewhere and chain it up, loo stops, etc. A lot easier to keep an eye out if there's two or more rather than when you're on your own, as I usually am.
As for feeling threatened on a bike, this has rarely happened, and not at all in recent years since I started riding recumbents, though it isn't something to be complacent about.

Depending on where I am I have taken it into the loos with me..... esp as the faff of locking it somewhere suitable and walking to the building can take longer than the act itself

I've done that too. Depends on where you are, especially if you're familiar with the area. Some cubicles are really tiny. I've used disabled toilets with a standard 700C bike when things have been quiet, though have guiltily wondered if I might face a busload of old ladies on exiting intent on whacking me with their zimmer frames, or disapproving carers, for inappropriate use of facilities. You could blag it and claim that your bike is a mobility aid, though it might be more convincing if you had a recumbent bike or trike. People aren't quite sure what to make of those.

Speaking of liberating, last year I did a longer trip on a Brompton, and apart from the ease of getting it on a train without worrying about booking, I was literally able to take it everywhere with me. It was a real eye opener, in fact. It's nice to be out on your comfortable, familiar purpose made bike but sometimes the compromises of a folder are outweighed by the sheer convenience and well, liberating, peace of mind.

It raises the question of whether you own things or they own you, when you have to modify your actions for fear of someone pinching them.