PEDAL POWER!

So I have surprised even myself. It’s not that I bought a bike – as I had discussed the idea of doing in a column a few months ago. Convincing myself to buy something as cute as my blue bike with a basket on the front was in no way challenging.

But actually using it regularly, such as to come to work? Dear reader, I promise you I have been doing it for a few months, and I am sure you don’t begrudge me my festive break due to the risk of being unbalanced by one too many mince pies. I got back on again last month.

It’s worth it just to see the look of surprise on the faces of my Gulf News colleagues when I zip up to the gates, my hair blowing in the wind, and lock up my trusty steed. (At least, that’s how I think I look – if you’d seen me on Monday, I was probably red-faced and panting after a ride face-first into an unrelenting headwind.) People are astonished when they see that someone can commute by bicycle. I’m lucky that I have a safe 25-minute ride that takes me past a bakery with 50 per cent discounts in the evening; for others, it’s not easy, I know.

I’m not a sporty biker; I don’t know what to do with energy gels or clips. I pedal fast but my leisure destinations are often driven by the prospect of lunch at the end of the cycling rainbow. I’ve gone from Downtown to La Mer, and in the other direction, to Dubai Design District (on which trip I discovered that there’s a very cool waterfront adult playground coming up). Next on my agenda is Mushrif Park’s tree-lined, undulating track. The problem is, I’ll have to buy a bike rack for the car, because I don’t do roads.

That’s where this weekend’s cover

You don’t begrudge me a festive break due to the risk of being unbalanced by one too many mince pies

story (on page 30) comes in: The UAE is now on track to becoming an cycling network, enabling those on two wheels to not only explore their own neighbourhoods, but move from community to community without tackling a highway. It’s still a while away, as many of these projects are in the planning stages, but it’s happening, and that elicits a few happy cycle bell rings from me.

Also in this edition, there’s good news for Arva Ahmed fans – she’s back this week, and taking on a challenge – asking, what’s the best pani puri in Dubai?

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