17/06/2026
It's been a busy few weeks of travelling for meetings and conferences, most recently to the Netherlands: canals, windmills... and bicycles. As someone who loathes my commute to work, I was immediately envious of the cycling culture.
It was an amazing coincidence then - the day I arrived back, a message in the estate WhatsApp - someone getting rid of a bike. (the commitmment to re-purposing and recycling of household items among my neighbours is, it must be said, rather impressive). Impulsively - undoubtedly still with Dutch influence on the brain - I picked it up. Oh, it had seen better days but honestly took very little in the way of a bit of grease and air in the tyres to get it on the road. Had I had to plan or shop for a bike, it honestly may never have happened.
Only a week on, and it has been ridiculously freeing to run errands in the town - coasting past the school run congestion, groceries bouncing about in the basket.
However, this isn't the Netherlands. I am too aware that the recently installed cycle lanes aren't quite the European equivalent: the lanes suddenly end. The space is shared with teens bombarding past on e-scooters at ridiculous speeds as well as dodging other oncoming cyclist for whom the painted directional arrows and bike-specific traffic signals are mere suggestions.
Unfortunately, it won't solve my commuting - Google Maps estimates that it will take me more than an hour and 20km to get to even the closest hospital that I work in. I happen to know - what Google Maps may not appreciate - is that to cycle most of that route - alongside narrow shoulders of 2 lanes of traffic at 100km/hr - would take stronger nerves than I have!
So, as a doc, do my own boys cycle? A bit. The route isn't safe enough for them to cycle unaccompanied to school just yet, which is sad. We'll do more this summer - we love renting bikes on the Greenway outside Carlingford! But important things when we do cycle is that they wear a helmet, they are stay aware of what's going on around them, they are able to be seen, and follow the rules of the road.
