LOCAL BIKE SHOPS ARE COMMUNITY LIFELINES. IT TOOK A GLOBAL PANDEMIC TO REMIND US.

WHEN DID WE move to Amsterdam? I thought to myself, while rolling along my favourite – usually sparsely-travelled – trail, giving wide berth to families of five, teenage siblings, couples on MTBs, and single riders of all ages atop two wheels. My typically quiet back roads resembled something of a small-town L’Eroica as lone riders spun along on skinny-tubed steel bikes with leather saddles and down-tube shifters. But I wasn’t in the Netherlands, or some cool, retro-inspired race. I was in the very current, increasingly frightening modern reality framed by the COVID-19 pandemic. People were using these bikes – new and old – to stay healthy, sane, and connected to the outdoors during extraordinarily isolating times. And we have our local bike shops to thank. Let’s be clear. We haven’t always been so grateful…

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Bicycling South Africa (Digital) - 1 Issue, July - August 2020

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