So, how have I been filling all those gaping hours when I would have been going for training runs? What could I possibly be doing to fill all that free time I have? Well, amongst other things Angel and I have done a fair amount of riding round South London on the cargo bike. We've been to Surrey Docks City Farm, Russia Dock Woodland, Burgess Park and Southwark Park, all of which can be easily reached by quiet roads and off-road cycle paths from our flat.
Less salubrious destinations have included Lewisham shopping centre (I definitely over-reached myself cycling round the big roundabout at Lewisham, which is a mess of construction work, without a clear idea of which exit/lane I needed...terrifying) and the Old Kent Road. I am volunteering with Southwark Day Centre for Asylum Seekers, which is based in a church close to Elephant and Castle. It's either a slow, sweaty bus journey away, or about 20 minutes' cycle straight up the Old Kent Road. I took Angel there on the bike last Thursday, and we both survived, but it certainly tested my resolve around where I will and will not take a 7-month-old on a bike.
However, what I've been really pleasantly surprised by is the positive reception the baby on the bike has had from passers by. The first few times I took her out I was bracing myself for comment and criticism - after all, everyone loves to tell people how to bring up their children, and (from experience) everyone loves to go on about how supposedly dangerous cycling in London is. (But it's actually not! you are more likely to be injured in an hour of gardening than an hour of cycling!!! I don't even have a garden so think how safe I am!!!) A few weeks ago I got into a really stupid discussion on the internet about the safety of taking a baby/toddler on a bike, in London, during rush hour...it was a typical internet argument where everybody weighed in to condemn the "irresponsible" mother who had been seen with her child on a bike, NOT wearing a helmet, but nobody bothered to read the comments of other people or my excellent arguments and links to research showing that there's actually no conclusive evidence that helmets make cycling safer, as there are other factors which confuse the issue (such as the possibility that drivers are less careful around helmet-wearing cyclists)*. I got extremely frustrated and had to unfollow that parenting group, and it was a good reminder never to get too emotionally involved in an argument on the internet! Anyway, following that experience I was ready to be told off for taking Angel out on the cargo bike. I was prepping myself to respond politely and firmly to people suggesting it was a stupid and irresponsible thing to do.
A few people appreciate the Bakfiets Dutch engineering with "that's useful" or "great idea."
And the dodgy, marijuana-smoking man with facial tattoos who was sitting by the side of the path through the park the other day expressed the views of many succinctly with a simple "nice bike."
*FYI I do wear a helmet when I cycle on the roads. Angel doesn't, because she's too small and it's not supposed to be good for babies' necks to wear a helmet while they're in the type of seat that she's in.
