There’s every chance that you’ve nearly been taken out by a cyclist on your way to Sidge. Or perhaps, you yourself have (accidentally) nearly maimed your fellow students as you dash to lectures. Consequently, to say that Cambridge is a cycling city seems like a colossal understatement; any glance at the cyclist counter on the edge of Parker’s Piece would tell you so. Though as I found out, cycling in Cambridge is not merely an entirely honest stereotype, but one of the best things you could do.

Yet despite all of this, despite cycling’s ubiquity here, despite the ease of riding a bike across this incredibly flat city, when I first arrived here I decided I had no need for one. I go to a central college, and so am seemingly always a 5 minute walk from anything I need, and if I go to the train station, I get the bus. I’ve certainly never intended to row, and therefore have never needed to cycle 20 minutes up the Cam at 3am. So, when I first moved down here, my bike remained at home.

“It turns out I’m not the first person to suggest that cycling might actually do you some good”

Potentially, those of you at a hill college are groaning at my arrogance, but little did I know how I’d regret that foolish decision. For as long as I can remember, I have loved riding my bike. Any moments of boredom on childhood holidays; any desire to make the most of those rare sunny days in the Dales; and later any impulse to procrastinate during A-Level revision could all be allayed by my bike. So it was with a lot of relief that for second year, I brought it down with me.

Of course the benefits are obvious: good for your health, good for the planet… the list goes on. It turns out I’m not the first person to suggest that cycling might actually do you some good. But it does give you something else at least; too often we trudge from lecture to supervision, or maybe break the cycle with a trudge to Revs. Cycling for the sake of cycling takes you out of that trudging loop.

Now, I’m not suggesting that you go all in. There’s no need to don your finest lycra and do your best Bradley Wiggins impression, but riding your bike, whether you need to or not, is just good fun. It turns out that bombing down King’s Parade in the early evening, when all the tourists have (at last) gone, is a liberating feeling. It’s even better after a far-too-long shift in a library, where the only sign of the outdoors has been the slowly-sinking sun through the window.

In exam term, I found myself angling after my bike more than ever. Maybe the need to procrastinate had returned, or perhaps it was something else. What mattered was that my kneejerk response was to unlock my bike and turn the pedals. I’d look up from the handlebars, find myself halfway to Huntingdon, and wonder why I felt so relaxed. If nothing else, overtaking all those desperately slow pedestrians is, somewhat childishly, enormously satisfying.

“There’s no need to don your finest lycra and do your best Bradley Wiggins impression”

Maybe there’s something more to be gained from all this self-indulgent pedal-churning. Cycling is not merely a means of getting from A to B, but does something to the cyclist. You get into a rhythm and slowly, imperceptibly forget what you’re actually doing. Cambridge becomes much smaller, and the world becomes much bigger. Even on the days of my exams, I was grateful for my bike as it provided a hasty getaway from the Sports Centre.

So if, in those early Autumn mornings of Michaelmas term, you’re fed up of going on yet one more monotonous trundle to Sidge, give your bike another chance. There might not be anything particularly grandiose to be learned, no big eureka moment, but it certainly won’t be empty or insignificant. At best, you gain a much-appreciated burst of freedom and a new way of looking at Cambridge. At worst, well, you just have a bit of fun.

My thoughts are clear at least. I don’t need a bike; I don’t need to cut a 5 minute commute in half, and there’s no far-flung location I desperately need to reach, but I like having one. Even 10 minutes going up and down King’s Parade is time well spent, and procrastination has never been so scenic. Whether you’re on a Voi, a vintage racer, or an absolute wreck, it just seems to make things a bit better.