It's getting beautiful outside these days. The days are much longer now, and summer is fast approaching. I've naturally been taking more frequent walks and enjoying the outdoors even though in the past couple of days we've had some (much welcomed) rain now and again.
It's normally gloomy here due to our location on the North Atlantic. We actually don't have it that bad in London. Most of the gloom is absorbed by Ireland, Wales and the South Western coast of England before it gets to us. We often get bluer skies than Cornwall, Wales or Dublin, so for that I'm grateful 😅.
I've been thinking of getting a bicycle to get around on. It means I would be able to get farther while still getting the benefits of exercising. I do own a car, but driving around in London defeats the purpose and comes with it's own issues. Parking is an issue. Hidden cameras placed there to catch you, not for speeding, but for random arbitrary rules on residential roads are an added complication on these streets :)
More cycle lanes have been added to roads in my area as a clear attempt to make it safer for cyclists. That's the other thing; it's very dangerous in to cycle around in London. The roads were not designed for that, unlike in Amsterdam or even Cambridge, and the motorists are not trained to respect cyclists. I see a lot of near misses that constantly discourage me from cycling.
Also, my cycling skills are not the best either. I've had some dangerous encounters while attempting to cycle in London even though I was on a relatively quiet road. The driving culture in London has gotten even worse than they used to be. One notable cause is the presence of more drivers on the roads that were not trained to drive in the UK - that is, they got their licences in a different country. This means they don't necessarily have the British etiquette on the road. I think this is actually quite dangerous. It's not only during cycling, but also at zebra crossings, traffic lights, roundabouts and junctions. I've seen too many people simply ignore the rules and drive in a way that'd be normal in countries I've visited outside the UK.
So it looks like it will be walking for me for the foreseeable future :). I'm not complaining though. I love to walk. It's a low impact way to exercise and it's free. Unless you've got an injury or mobility issues, then it still remains the best exercise in my view.
Peace & Love,
Adé
