Walk, or bike?

When I was a child, teenager and even into my twenties, I didn't really enjoy walking. Walking was something I did for practical reasons, not for pleasure. As a child I walked to and from school until my parents could afford to buy me a bicycle. Even then, it was at least one size too large for me. Still, it was a bike, and oh the freedom of freewheeling home downhill when the school day was done!

At that time my parents never suggested we go for a walk, also, I think a carryover. My mother had to walk two miles to the train station and back when she first started working. My dad enjoyed 'going for a stroll' in later life, but she never did.

During my years in England, things slowly began to change. When, at ballet school, I lived at White Lodge in Richmond Park walking out on a weekend meant a change of scene. On a Sunday us older students would walk to the early service in the Anglican church in East Sheen. But for me, inclement weather or chilly winds would often spoil the experience.

My husband's family was completely the opposite, and that too, helped me ease into the pleasure of perambulation. This was good, because family walks with children began to feature quite large in my life. Walking it was for years, and for years I no longer owned a bike.

Then I visited Holland a few times and rediscovered the joy, the easy pace (no, I don't do the racing bit, and also prefer to be upright, not bent forward), the feeling of being connected to nature and the changing skies above.

These days, an arthritic hip restricts my walking. I miss it dreadfully. But my bicycle offers a solution. With gears set to 'easy riding' I can get outside, wheel around and enjoy the spring.