Cycling around Kyoto

My new red bike by the river

For the last fifteen years I haven't driven a car or ridden a motorbike. Before coming to Japan I'd had two driving Jobs. From about 1980 until 1988 I drove a van and after that I became a driving instructor for six years. But even though it is easy to convert my British driving license into a Japanese one, I have never done it. Public transport is just so wonderful here that I do not need to drive.

Kyoto is a very compact city and in the past any chance I had I walked instead of using the subway. But Kyoto is a very bicycle friendly city and lots of people use bikes everyday. Since moving next to the river, I have been thinking about buying a bicycle and two weeks ago I bought one. At first I was a little wobbly; I hadn't ridden in over 30 years. But soon I got my confidence and now I bicycle everywhere.

Of course bicycles are environmentally friendly; you burn your energy, not petrol. But there is a different kind of environmental friendliness when you ride a bike; you communicate with nature. As you ride along you can: hear the birds in the trees; smell the flowers; hear the river flowing, and many more. It is spiritually uplifting in a way that driving a car or riding the subway could never be.

I was riding along the river and heard some birds singing, so I jumped off my bike and pulled out my camera. Luckily I could get this shot.