"High five to the cyclists"

Someone recently told me she’d been standing at a bus stop in Woodseats for half an hour (yes, I know, nothing unusual there!), and from all the cars she’d seen driving past in that time there’d only been one person in all of them.

She queried whether there had been any justification in them using cars (but sadly the bus didn’t appear to be a better option considering the dismal service), and added that it was hardly surprising that the planet was in trouble. Indeed!

So, kudos to the GPs from Sloane Medical Centre (Sheffield Telegraph, January 16), and other GPs who now zip around Sheffield on their e-bikes (and indeed any kind of bike), braving the elements and Sheffield’s many hills. I live at the bottom of a real corker myself, so I’m all too familiar with them.

A high five, of course, to all other cyclists too. When you take into account that they are far better for the environment by not polluting it with carbon emissions and are an ideal means of exercising and keeping fit, then it’s all ‘win-win’ really.

The e-bikes are also a great solution to what has inhibited many Sheffielders from cycling before, those ultra-challenging hills that would make even Bradley Wiggins blanch and must have spawned many an angina attack.

So, what’s not to like? True, they’re not going to get you to grandma’s at the other end of Sheffield when you’ve got three kids and a dog in tow. They’re not an option when you’ve got a heavy load of shopping or a cat to take to the vets, unless somebody knows something I don’t. They’re, sadly, not feasible for those with certain disabilities or health issues like my own either.

However, for most people in the right circumstances, they’re brilliant. Imagine the impact it would make on the environment if more and more people took a leaf out of the ‘biking brigade’s’ book.

It’s a fantastic way for GPs to practise what they preach too. I can’t say I’d have shedloads of respect for any doctor who’d encourage me to do lots of cycling to keep fit and benefit the environment when he’s got a whacking great SUV sitting in the car park that would leave the poor planet begging for mercy.

So, all power to the e-bike (and its less sophisticated cousins). Well done to those campaigning for safer cycling paths and lanes and a thumbs-up to establishments like CycleBoost for making cycling more accessible to the public.