Lockdown? I'm having the most fun in ages

OPINION

- MOLLY WEAVER

With races and events quite rightly cancelled for the foreseeable future, the cycling world that most of us know has changed over the past few months. Whether you would usually have spent this time racing, riding, or watching cycling, that probably hasn’t happened in the way you had planned. It certainly hasn’t for me.

I was recently asked how I felt about this, and I’m honestly indifferent to it. Of course I’m not jumping for joy that the races I’ve trained for are cancelled, and that the pursuit of adventure has been put on hold, but I’m also not upset about it.

Personal health, the health of loved ones, and the health of the wider world are what matters now. I guess this is always the case, but we’re often not reminded of it in such an extreme way.

I’m certainly guilty of getting so wrapped up in the cycling bubble that I fail to see beyond it. But that bubble, for now, has burst.

Of course, this has its negatives, for some more than others, but it also has its positives. Redefining my relationship with the bike has been one of them.

I no longer have a ‘reason’ to ride, which is something I’ve always been driven by. That in itself is perfectly OK, but it’s been liberating to no longer feel the pressure that comes with that. To just head out and pedal for my own health and happiness.