EMERGING from lockdown has been a disconcerting experience.

I have become accustomed to spending so much time alone and tend to daydream when I’m out for a walk. Very much aware of socially distancing, I often move onto the road temporarily to avoid another person.

Wearing a mask also changes awareness of everything around me. I don’t know why, but I hear less clearly with a mask on!

Strolling along the middle of a quiet road with my husband the other day, we were shocked out of our daydreaming by the jolly tinkle tinkle of a bicycle bell alerting us to traffic behind. Quickly moving to the side, we were highly amused to see a brisk-moving tandem, our health-conscious doctor and wife laughing and hailing us to ‘get off the road’ as they whizzed past.

More people are choosing to cycle. Specialist bike retailers have seen sales grow by 60 per cent since March 2020. E-bike sales more than doubled.

You may also have noticed how many more cyclists are using the roads, not all of them as fit and road-user aware as my doctor. We have all been stuck in a queue behind a lone cyclist struggling to pedal up a country hill. Patience is a virtue!

Expensively kitted groups of cyclists zoom past drivers on the winding East Lothian roads, professional and focused, but challenging the natural flow of traffic. As the holidays start, the traffic inevitably increases, with hesitant tourists, caravans and more delivery vans whizzing around. This summer, more than ever, we are all going to have to share the space on our roads.

I remind myself daily to be cyclist aware and watch out for cyclists at corners and coming out of driveways. I will make sure I am patient and slow down, waiting when cyclists are furiously peddling up hills and most importantly being extra careful when overtaking to give ample space. But don’t worry about me. I won’t be on a bike. Not my thing!