Learning to become a more confident cyclist
Author: 21st May 2020
Big roads, cars, vans, other cyclists and pedestrians would always scare me when cycling, I was always terrified that I would crash into someone or wobble so much that I would fall off. I wanted to tackle this to help me reduce my carbon footprint. During lock down, I have been able to work on this.
I started to cycle along the Botley road with my dad on a route we used to do a lot when I was younger, cycling to Port Meadow and Wytham in a loop. At first I felt extremely intimidated. However, after cycling regularly for a couple of months I have now managed to be able to cycle in places that, beforehand, I wouldn’t have dared to, such as the city centre of Oxford.
This helped me to cycle a 26km charity bike ride and I hope to build on my confidence so that I can continue to cycle more in the future, instead of relying on more polluting methods of transport.
Another positive from this is that I have been able to explore more of the beautiful countryside around Oxford!