Monday, 18 June 2012

Can Anyone Look Good in a Bicycle Helmet ...?

    No.

    Believe me, I've tried, but there's no getting away with it - I'm a geek without a cycle helmet, and I'm a geek with a cycle helmet. Safety aside, there's no way for the average amateur cyclist to look good with a cycle helmet on. Professional cyclists are partially exempt; however, the Lycra often drags them down.

    I've recently taken up cycling again after a gap of 13 years, although don't misunderstand me; I wasn't a professional cyclist back then. I think I only cycled for a couple of years before giving it up as a bad job and, before that, I hadn't cycled since I passed my Cycling Proficiency Test at the age of 10.

    Funny how your brain still remembers the basics, even after all that time. The old saying "It's like riding a bike" exists for a reason, I suppose.

    Thankfully, there's no photographic evidence of me on a bike as yet, although I'm sure that will change - and no, I won't be sharing those pictures.

    My dyspraxia is an issue that I have to be aware of when I'm cycling - and was the thing I was most nervous about. Having failed six driving tests, I know my ability to drive a large metal machine is never going to be top-notch - but at least there are air-bags in a car.

    All these thoughts ran through my head when I started cycling again, and there have been "moments" - a wobble here, a brief moment of panic there as a car goes whizzing past at intergalactic speeds - when I thought "I don't know if this is for me."

    My coordination being what it is (something akin to a falling lemming), riding a bike was always going to an experience (to put it politely), but it's becoming easier the more I do it - and after all, the philosophy of JFDI is applicable here. If you don't know what the acronym stands for, then three of the four words are "Just", "Do" and "It" ... and the other word isn't flipping.

    Still, I've gone ahead and done it ... and it's good fun. I recommend cycling - although one thing they don't teach you in Cycling Proficiency Class; hills are the work of Satan.

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