AustLit

'I used to ride everywhere. From the age of sixteen, when I moved out of home, I'd cycle up the hill and over the highway to uni on my old Kmart mountain bike with the milk crate strapped to the back. I'd ride home from the supermarket with plastic bags hanging precariously from the handlebars. I'd hop on my bike to visit friends, whether they lived around the corner or on the other side of town. Eventually I started riding for fun too, taking long, meandering adventures along the coast on weekends. But I really got into riding when I was eighteen and lived in Vancouver for a year on exchange. My daily commute took an hour and a half, through the suburbs and up a mountain I could see on the horizon from my bedroom window. When I reached the summit, steam would rise from my body and dissipate in the thick winter air. It was quicker on the way home, of course, hurtling down the slope with stiff fingers clutching at the brake levers, a terrified grin making my teeth chatter.' 

 (Publication abstract)