By Wendy Sigey
I started cycling in September 2021 with no previous experience in fitness. I joined a beginner group that did group rides on Saturdays and Sundays.
I later came to observe that weekends are for cycling. At first it was so so hard. I was extremely green. I didn’t even know the different types of bicycles. However, the more I kept cycling, the better I got, the more confident I became and eventually started enjoying the sport.
Kenya has a pretty large cycling community but almost everyone knows everyone. We even have races throughout the year. They vary from mountain bike races to road races to gravel races.
A few of the athletes race professionally for our country however, I still believe that a lot more can be done to have more young people cycle professionally and succeed.
These races are held in all parts of the country and I believe they really boost tourism. So many small businesses benefit from the weekend cycling trips. Weekends are for cycling.
There are routes that have become very popular within the cycling community. Along these routes, cyclists make stops to fuel and rest. This way, a lot of the small businesses that sell food, snacks and refreshments along these routes have become friends of the cyclists.
One thing I love about the cycling community is how much people are willing to help each other grow. Both in the sport and other aspects of life. In the community you meet all kinds of people from all walks of life.
However the bicycle is where we are all the same. When it comes to contributing to help one another the cyclists will always support.
While cycling, accidents are bound to happen.
Many times, other cyclists make sure the injured are taken care of, their families contacted and they support all through recovery.
This is also important when it comes to networking. It provides a relaxed environment therefore, exchanging and pitching ideas becomes easier and eventually building on ideas and getting expertise may not be much of a struggle if what and who you’re looking for is within your team.
Aside from making lifelong friends, cycling really helps with one’s mental health. Many times you will see memes about how when you’re stressed out you just go for a bike ride.
To me I believe it’s more about the community. I mean cycling increases your dopamine and serotonin levels for sure you end up feeling more relaxed.
However, group rides are so much fun. There’s a lot of banter and competition during rides.
There’s a lot of tips and ideas exchanged in conversation. The biggest challenge we experience is road safety. Many motorists are hostile to cyclists.
Once a friend mentioned that some motorists would avoid hitting the cows on the roads but would not think twice about hitting a cyclist. Sad but if you’ve been on the roads like we have, you will realize that it is not far from the truth.
Unfortunately, our country does not have cyclist lanes apart from a few roads like Ngong road. This means that we have to share the road.
A commuter or a cyclist training just wants to get home to their loved ones like everyone else. I believe a lot needs to be done in terms of debunking how cyclists are generally viewed in Africa.
As the community grows, things will get better. Let us however, start by accepting that cyclists are also entitled to using the roads we already have.
Then as time goes by and we build more roads, we can rally for cycling lanes and make it even safer and hopefully have more people even commuting to work which will eventually reduce traffic and combat global warming.
The writer is a cyclist and has participated in major cycling sports across Kenya
