You know when your phone vibrates, you look at it and you’re like “Why would *Insert Company Name Here* send me a tweet?”, because on Friday that’s exactly what happened to me. Auto Trader tweeted me and challenged me to be a part of their & Qhubeka’s #DriveChange campaign! They may have heard i have an issue saying no 🙂

As you may know Auto Trader have teamed up with Qhubeka to and raise funds to help communities get off their feet and onto bikes to help make their daily commutes quicker and safer. To raise funds and awareness they have asked me to commute to work for a week on my bicycle. Like, I excite. Hard! So day 1 🙂

Only turned the Strava on in Fairylands when i stopped to get a selfie with the sunrise (about halfway between my house and my work). I went a very direct route because as you can see I had a bag with my laptop and work clothes on my back (I won’t be travelling with the laptop on any other commutes).

Thinking about the campaign and what it means while I was riding the streets, paths and sidewalks, I realised that there are 2 sides to this coin. Firstly, bicycles can change lives. It was part of how I changed my life but in this instance I imagined walking to work vs the cycle. Walking would mean leaving at 04:30am and arriving at work exhausted after a 3 hour journey. it would also meaning walking back. That’s 6 hours a day. No. Thank goodness for bicycles.

The other side of the coin though (secondly), is that it’s difficult. Drivers generally disregard cyclists, I can’t explain how scary it is and how frequently people don’t use there indicators. I have a “bike parking” and shower facilities at the office, if I didn’t I’d be stinking up my meetings and worrying about the safety of my Scott. The general planning around bicycle commuting is a big deal – there are logistics. People who don’t have (at least) bicycles are living a crazy existence in which I couldn’t function. People with bicycles as their main means of transport are doing a great job, you need to be organised and motivated. Especially if you don’t have the supporting facilities.

But I arrived safely on day 1 🙂 Hoot and wave if you see me out there! And come to the malls this weekend to donate R50 to colour in the Auto Trader/Qhubeka cars. We only have these 2 weeks to raise funds guys and the funds will be used to buy bicycles for Qhubeka 🙂