I would like to talk about an old colleague of mine called Martin, who worked in the same office as me in Bristol a couple of years back. While practically everyone else commuted by car or crowded onto buses, Martin was an absolute cycling fanatic and refused to drive anywhere.
He literally rode his bicycle every single day, come rain or shine. Even in the middle of winter when it was freezing cold and pouring down, you would see him arriving at work in his fluorescent waterproof gear, clipping his helmet onto his rucksack. He actually held a valid driving licence and could easily have afforded a decent car, but he passionately believed that driving in the city was completely pointless. In his eyes, sitting in gridlocked traffic during rush hour was just a waste of time and money, not to mention the environmental impact of exhaust emissions.
For Martin, cycling was not just a practical way to bypass traffic jams; it was also his main form of daily exercise and a way to clear his head after a stressful shift. He used to tell us that by the time he pedalled home along the river path, all his work-related anxiety had vanished. He felt remarkably pleased about saving a fortune on petrol and parking fees too. To be honest, his enthusiasm was quite infectious, and he genuinely took pride in living an active, low-carbon lifestyle, even if the rest of us thought he was slightly mad whenever it snowed.