In the pandemic it seemed community cycling was going up another gear, now we get closed lanes and tacks on the road
During those long pandemic days, when we had nowhere to go and nowhere to be, my kids and I used to hit the road on our bikes. We would head out on a brand new cycle lane that popped up on a high-traffic road in Shoreham-by-Sea, where we live, as part of government measures to help more people walk and cycle during the pandemic. We would nip to the shops, down to the river or to the local library, and weekend activities were interspersed with quick rides. At the height of the Covid restrictions, taking off spontaneously as a family offered us a sense of freedom that felt liberating.
I had never considered allowing my two children, now aged 12 and nine, to ride on the roads before this cycle lane popped up in September 2020, neatly sheltering cyclists from the fast-moving flow of traffic that is a constant on our surrounding roads. To state the obvious, it was the cars that put me off before. If your child is weaving in and out of traffic, one momentary lapse in judgment could be fatal. But the pandemic sparked a shift for us, towards a more sustainable lifestyle. It felt safe to set off on your bike, and the cycle lane became a living, breathing thread of community that stitched nearby towns together.
