101 reasons to love cycling in London #25 - make friends, and start communities

A few years ago I lived in a medium density residential development comprising of apartment blocks built round a central car park.  In the 2 years that I lived there I never once met my neighbours, despite walking past their front doors every day on the way up the stairs to my apartment.  The only time anyone went outside at this unit was to walk to their car, before driving off.  On reflection it was quite the suburban nightmare...

I'm at the top of an apartment block again where I live now, and believe that my riding a bicycle has helped to build a stronger sense of community in my new home:  I'm friends with the German couple who own the basement flat, next to which I lock my bicycle and whose hose I borrow to wash my bike.  When I've been working on maintaining the bike at the back of the flats I've got talking to another neighbour who was interested in taking up cycling.  A friend, who had a balance disorder for many years and lives a few doors down said how much he envied my ability to ride a bike; he's since had a go on mine and loved it and was astonished to find he still new how to ride a bike after all the years...  The young man who lives on the first floor always smiles at me ever since I told him not to lock his bike to the sign post at the front of the flats because there had been a spate of bike thefts in the area.  All these interactions, these fleeting exchanges, are what help to make a community and sense of place and safety.  When the only time you step outside is when you scurry from your front door to your car door it's more difficult to build up this kind of rapport.  Bikes are on a human scale.

And of course, cycling in London has lead to me making friends too, and could for you too. You'll find you become buddies with the other cyclists where you work, or you get drawn in to the online world of one of the many cycling forums such as Cycle Chat or London Fixed-Gear and Single-Speed: before you know it you're out on a leisure ride with your new-found cycling friends. Maybe you'll get into sports cycling and join a team, or get involved with advocacy campaings volunteering at camaigns and events for the LCC.  Maybe you'll see the same people on your commute every day, or every month at Critical Mass (this Friday, incidentally) and end up sharing a beer or two after a ride with these people.  In a big old city like London, that intial point of introduction that the bicycle provides is invaluable and can of course lead to great friendships.

By riding a bike yourself, you are also helping to make the streets you ride in more liveable for the people who reside there.  No friends of your own?  Maybe the vehicle traffic in your street is making you that way.  Cyclised streets are civilized streets, and every 2 wheeled journey you make is helping to contribute to that.

So, as we reach the quarter way mark of 101 reasons to love cycling in London, let's recap as to why there is so much more to the humble bicycle than first meets the eye, and look over the past 25 reasons to love cycling in London:

1.  Saving money
2.  Not being sweaty
3.  Gets the heart rate going
4.  Avoid the Congestion Charge
5.  It's fun!
6.  Zero emmissions
7.  No noise pollution
8.  You can be a crime fighting hero!
9.  More free time
10.  Seeing things
11.  Fastest way across town
12.  Increases the value of your home
13.  Reduces congestion.  Substantially.
14.  You make it safer for yourself (safety in numbers)
15.  Exercise your grey cells
16.  A transport for ALL seasons
17.  It's egalitarian
18.  It's reliable
19.  You could win Gold! (It's an Olympic sport)
20.  The most fuel efficient transport in the world
21.  Makes a big city small
22.  It keeps you sane
23.  Get in touch with nature
24.  It raises your self esteem
25.  Make friends and start communities...

...so as you can see there are many reasons to love cycling in London, and why London should love it's cyclists.  What are yours?