Before the pandemic I would take the train, or the bus, to work. Some time in 2020, after our lovely neighbour gave me his 20 year old bike, I began to cycle to work. Initially I'd been hesitant. It seemed awfully troublesome and I wasn't sure of the route. Our neighbour described a simple path along the park connector, but I couldn't quite figure it out until Jacob rode it with me one (non-work) day and after that I had no excuses. I became a cyclist-commuter.
Cycling to work has its downsides. I've fallen off my bike twice, once after I crashed into another cyclist speeding round a corner on the wrong side of the path, and another when I swerved to avoid a woman who jumped into my path away from a monitor lizard. That second one gave me a bruise the size of a large orange on my thigh. I took a photo of it and sent it to a friend, proclaiming that it looked like a galaxy. I also get to work sweaty, and skulk through the (usually quite empty) office in my shorts and sports bra to the shower. Every time I walk back in my work clothes, clean and smelling like jasmine soap, I feel like saying "Look! What a transformation!"
But oh, the gladness that it brings. I've come to recognise some of the characters along my cycle, like the woman who kick boxes on Tuesdays and the older woman who does some sort of meditative martial art/qigong with a sword. Lately a whole group of women have been meeting early in the morning to do tai chi, and as I go past them I hear a tinny voice coming from a speaker, saying, "hu.....xi.....hu....xi...." and I try to breathe along with the rhythm. Close by stands an older man with a forlorn look on his face, and I'm never quite sure if he wants to join the women and is trying to muster up the courage, or if he's someone's husband or friend and is just waiting for the whole thing to be over.
The cycle is usually intensely satisfying. It shortens my commute significantly so that within 35 minutes, or less if there aren't many people, I'm locking my bike up and walking into the building. If it has been a long day at work, the effort of peddling home flushes out the tension is a good reminder that I have a body that can move me places, including away from there.
Sometimes I see things that fill my heart. This week I saw a boy, walking along with his mother, holding a leaf up to his eye. He seemed to be peering through the leaf like a monocle or a magnifying glass, looking out into the world. Occasionally otters make an appearance at points along the river. The sky regularly shows off just how masterfully it can blend its colours.
So I am grateful for the cycling, for the newness and familiarity brings, for exerting my body and soothing my soul.
