D The cyclist forums are currently full of people complaining about pedestrian and cycle paths that have not been cleared. I don’t complain, but have adapted my form of mobility.
That wasn’t planned. When the first snow fell, I looked responsibly out the window and solemnly declared to the family, the world and most of all to myself that I Do not cycle in these road conditions would. Out of a sense of responsibility. After all, after a certain age, pedals only fester very reluctantly from the injured cyclist’s shin, and I don’t want to subject anyone to such a failure.
This sensible decision was implemented excellently on the first day. I didn’t have an outside appointment and just stayed inside. On the second day I wanted to go to the dentist early in the morning. It suddenly took me 30 minutes to walk instead of the usual 10 minutes. Afterwards I wanted to go to a job appointment and visit a friend in the evening. I realized with horror: I couldn’t do it on foot. So off to the next S-Bahn station.
The first train was canceled. The second was a mobile warming room and brought with it the well-known big city dilemma: Can you simultaneously be empathetic towards people who have fallen off the grid economically and socially and still have the desire for yourself clean, odorless means of transport admit?
Thigh workout instead of Berlin January blues
I didn’t join in with the hooting vomiting noises of some of the young people who boarded with me, but I preferred to stand in their thick cloud of aftershave scent than on the unwashed side of the carriage. It became clear to me: The public and I will no longer have great love in this life.
On the third day of snow, I set the saddle on my wide-tired folding bike so low that I could reach the ground with both feet at the same time. And developed the form of transport for cyclists.
On side roads I now slide over icy moguls like a cocky balance bike child. I cycle in the classic way on the few cleared cycle paths and the evenly trodden, car-free park paths – including special thigh workouts thanks to the low saddle height. Goodbye, the usual Berlin January blues of constant gloom and gray haze. Olé, you white, radiant, crunching surface!
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Thanks to my new cycling pace, I see a completely different city: In the zoo, for example, someone is modeling snow faces on the bark of trees. Others slide on improvised ice skating rinks across frozen ponds. And a surprising number of drivers stop and let me use the narrow, ice-free fords on the side roads.
Yes, of course the forum complainers are right that in a better world, footpaths and cycle paths should have been cleared long ago. And in general all journeys could be covered by train, bus and bike. Many people are already doing this today. But there are also truck drivers and car drivers. They depend on cleared streets.
We cyclists, on the other hand, can cope with an adjustable saddle, warm gloves and studded tires: we are free, independent, self-determined. That’s why I love cycling so much! And I’m just happy about it snow these few weeks.