As a first-time liver-out for my second year at Durham, my biggest worry (aside from having to cook) was the distance I now lived from my college and other university buildings. I suddenly felt so far from the small bubble of central Durham in which I had lived in just some months prior.

My solution? To bring my bike to Durham!

In hindsight, this was probably not the best solution. As everyone knows all too well, Durham is hilly – I get tired out from even walking up some of those hills. However, being from Lincolnshire, a mostly flat county, bringing my bike seemed like the most obvious solution. Back at home, I cycled everywhere, and how difficult could cycling up some hills really be?

It turns out, cycling up the hills is not the problem. As long as one has the stamina – which one will undoubtedly achieve from cycling just a few times around Durham – the hills are not so difficult. In fact, it is an effective way to build muscles in your legs, so I always feel proud of the ache in my legs at the end of surmounting a hill.

The trouble I find with Durham’s hills is cycling down them. At home, there are many cycle paths for me to take, so I rarely deal with cross junctions. However, Durham, being a congested city, has cross junctions and roundabouts all throughout, and mostly all of them being located at the bottom of a slope. Flying down the hills at great speed, whilst exhilarating, can be anxiety-inducing, as I brace myself to brake and navigate through cars. As days get shorter and nights get darker, this fear is only more prevalent.

The shorter days, a result of the oncoming winter months, are another reason why I am wary about being a Durham cyclist. Although I have lights on my bike, that does not remove the fear that a car will not see me in the dark, or I will be unable to see something beneath my wheels that will cause me to crash. The ice forming on the roads and pavements from the colder winter weather contributes to this fear. It could be very easy for my bike to skid over ice with myself unable to prevent myself from sliding out of control.

So, why cycle at all? After all, Durham is a walkable city. From where I live, no university buildings are further than a thirty-minute walk. Surely, making sure I have the correct gear to cycle safely, finding a place to lock up my bike, and pedalling up steep hills is more effort than is necessary.

For me, I use cycling to hold myself accountable for my environmental decisions. As a walker in Durham, it is very easy to opt for a bus ride: the bus tickets in Durham as so cheap, and there are regular buses every hour. However, buses still release carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. Cycling is therefore a more environmentally friendly way of travelling, especially according to a 2021 study which found that cyclists have 84% lower CO2 emissions from all daily travel than non-cyclists. By cycling, I am less inclined to add to my carbon footprint by taking the bus.

Not only do I feel better about my environmental decisions by cycling, but I also feel more connected to the environment. The exposure to natural light and fresh air really allows me to appreciate my surroundings. Unlike walking, for which many of Durham’s destinations are accessible by lots of different paths, I have to think about which routes I take by bike in advance, so by the time I am pedalling down those routes, I am free to think about nothing but my surroundings.

It is easy to forget how beautiful Durham is as a city, filled with many natural spaces never far from the foot-traffic of day-to-day life. I feel that by cycling, I am able to make the most of this scenery while doing my part to protect it from the consequences of climate change.

Featured image: Murillo de Paula via Unsplash