As the capital has slowly returning to normal office life, a growing number of commuters have changed to the bicycle.
The Corona crisis has created a rish to bicycle shops and online sales to get the gear and the bicycles to start this new way of commuting. Before the Corona crisis we already could see brave cyclists who risked their life in the hectic traffic, but now we see a change in mentality ... cycling has become the safest option to get to work!
The government has released incentives, GPs can prescribe bike vouchers and bicycle repair shops are sponsored with £50 repair vouchers. A lot of changes to take in by the public, but there is more to come...
There are plans to turn parts of London in to a car-free zone, with bollard-protected bike lanes. This will increase the safety of the cyclists and get even more people on their bicycles.
In other parts of the country local Councils are working on similar plans to promote cycling in the inner cities. The government has set some criteria for those plans and funds are available.
It would be good if this change would continue in the smaller cities and local communities, to get more people cycling. After all cycling is one of the best exercises to train a number of muscles in your body. Most cyclists agree that cycling not only improves their physical health but also their mental outlook.
The new bike boom has also created a bounce back for a large number of small bicycle repair shops. People bring their old bikes in for repairs, other people come to buy a new bike.
Cycling used to be popular in the UK in earlier years, the bicycle hire initiatives in London and other cities have changed a lot, but the Corona bike boom will go down in cycling history as a major shift.
Keep on cycling and keep it safe.
