Cycle

Cycling should be obsolete.

Think about it.

Children should know bicycles only as those ridiculous-looking, balance-defying contraptions they glimpse as parents drag them (the kids, not the bikes) around transport-related museums.

Even the oldest of us has been successfully weaned off typewriters.

However, pedal bikes have not just survived the cull of time and modern trends, they’ve thrived.

Lots of people have them in Beijing, apparently.

I cycle too - not in order to slow global warming (though I’m not necessarily pro), or to save on gas, or avoid parking fees. The bike is not a utility machine the office is much too far away for that.

And, while I partake in road cycling, there is no racing involved and therefore the fitness benefits are probably far less than they should be.

I use the purest form of transport that involves a machine simply for leisure.

There is no better way to explore the area surrounding where you live - even if you have lived there your entire life.

Turns out, American tourists are right; Ireland is beautiful.

And it’s easy to appreciate just how lucky we are to have such seductive beauty on our doorsteps by hopping on a bike and clearing all areas with a 30km speed limit.

Everything is closer to cyclists - bridges, trees, lanes, mountains (and, unfortunately, motorists).

The car is the perfect utility vehicle - it holds many obvious aces - but the saddle of a bicycle offers the perfect vantage point to view the world.

And, as anyone who cycles, walks or runs already knows, stress and worry doesn’t like the open air. They never seem to want to come out for a spin too.

Though I’m not without company on my cycles.

We cycle.

Apart from the bike, the only other necessity for the hour-long countryside spins is an entertainment centre. A non-stop talking Sat-Nav that enjoys guessing directions and performing a breathless running commentary on everything in sight.

And one that rings the bike bell whenever she spots anything remotely interesting - from an oncoming car to a cow peering over a ditch.

We cycle.

Though there is no pedalling by the four-year-old, she insists we are both cycling, and even dutifully huffs and puffs on steep uphill climbs.

The countryside brought to life - in high-quality surround sound.

Myself and Eve have had our moments however.

I took a wrong turn lately and ended up hopelessly lost, with narrowing roads turning into everyone’s nightmare when looking for a familiar road – grass growing in the middle of the road. Definitely the road less travelled. Being lost on a leisurely bicycle trip is not a particularly unpleasant experience, unless you are constantly taunted about the mistake by a passenger.

And then there was the day when an elderly man on a country road shouted “Ass” as we passed by.

Admittedly we were going a little fast. “Child on board” prevented a suitable reply.

Rounding the next corner, we narrowly avoided a stray donkey.