Red Light… Hi Stranger*: A Springy Cycle Around Town

*If this music reference bypassed you, let me introduce you to a little Billy Ocean gem explaining this somewhat random title and hopefully offering some amusement every time you shall get stuck at a traffic light again: 🎶Have a listen🎶

How amazing was last weekend, guys?! Spring’s finally on its way after a terribly long lockdown winter and the difference it makes is just surreal. You can finally spot more people out and about again who have been hiding away during the cold and grim days. The parks are coming back to life, with squirrels hopping about, tiny kids chasing their tails, parents following suit, making sure their little ones don’t fall into a river or pond nearby which are now even attracting some amateur fishers apparently. I spotted some the other day securing their catch in a proper net. I did not know that’s even possible or allowed in the city — probably not, so we’re going to pretend they set him free once I passed by, happy endings all around.

As for me, I was on a mission to catch as much vitamin D as possible, so went on a little cycle ride, first one of the year, allowing my ridiculous outdoor self to slowly crawl out of her shell, a subtle change encapsulated in a moment that still makes me smile when thinking about it, and I do hope it does the same for the other person it involved. What happened exactly?

Well, if you’d really like to know: As I said, I took my tiny wheels for a spin — which I always referred to as my clown bike by the way, as it makes me feel rather big, but after having written about Bristol and revisiting the graffiti pictures, I now know exactly what it makes me think of.

Foldable bikes are the way to go when living in a city, even if they do get minus points in the ‘rugged outdoor look’-category.

And no, I don’t tend to wear a top hat when I cycle. Instead, I sport a regular cycling helmet — cause safety first — which probably does not rank much higher on the attractiveness scale potentially adding another layer of ridicule to the scenario which I need you to picture as best as you can because it’s probably one of those ‘you should have been there’-stories.

So, as I was cruising the streets of London on my little foldi, perfect for commuting, especially on flat roads, (not my best friend when paddling my way through Surrey Hills), my journey came to a halt at a traffic light where I dutifully stayed to the side as it was a rather narrow street and I wasn’t too keen on making my way to the front which is usually reserved for cyclist — great ‘cyclists first’-gesture, terribly stressful place to be though if you know it’ll take you a few paddles to even get going while the eyes of impatient drivers are burning holes into your behind.

Being stuck at a slight incline, I deemed it wise to stay behind and not let any stress enter this blissfully sunny spring day, birds chirping, bees humming, I was content and in my own little world, and so was a guy on the passenger seat in the car right next to me, his eyes critically (or with amazement, I could not quite tell) inspecting my bike. He was slowly scanning it from bottom to top, and once he reached my face, I couldn’t help it but had to nod my head in acknowledgement, raise my eyebrows and with a big smile say: “Nice ride, ey?!” approving his admiration of my wheels the same way somebody would do if sat in a convertible, roof down, arm resting on the side panel, hair waving in the wind — add a cycle helmet and foldable bike to the picture, and that’s pretty much what the poor sod was looking at. It clearly caught him by surprise as I was staring at a blank face, still nodding my head, still flashing my eye brows, fully revealing my pearly whites as I was realising how silly that was, which ultimately made him chuckle as I was driving off once the light turned green.

I have no idea where that impulse came from probably baffling me as much as the recipient of my silliness. As I kept paddling on, that big ole smile did not pass but instead travelled through my whole body as I welcomed back that light-hearted version of myself which I’ve been missing dearly throughout the last few months. That tiny interaction made me realise that the life-embracing, ‘random thoughts uttering’-person I’m known for is still in there somewhere, she just needs a little help to dust off that lockdown blues that’s been creeping in lately.

While reconnecting with myself was a great feeling, the fact that I got to share this little moment, made it even more special. Knowing that this silly interaction will probably have made a difference to his day as well, enhanced the joy that carried me through the rest of mine. We did say before, ‘happiness is only real when shared.’ But more importantly, to leave Jon Krakauer be for a sec and quote Cesare Pavese instead, “We do not remember days, we remember moments,” and this one left me with a little spring in my step, especially after he wished me a great day with a big grin on his face when passing by.

So, while counting those days until we can roam around this world again, let’s just catch those little moments. We might still have a few more lockdown weeks ahead of us, but at least days are getting longer. The sun is gracing us with her presence more often again, warming our faces, tickling our noses, letting flowers appear all around us, coaxing out smiles wherever we go. If the latter is not the case where you are, well, I guess somebody has to make a start! 😁

Have a lovey weekend, folks! Hopefully it’s another sunny one! ☀️🌷🚲

Roll on, Spring 2021! Here some lovely spring pictures that came my way this week from Guildford where fellow outdoor enthusiast Ian is roaming the local grounds in preparation for bigger adventures to come — NDW in 2020, what might this year have in store? Only time will tell…