“Just 30 more minutes, I’ll be home, soon. I promise.”
A promise that’s invariably broken. ‘Soon’, can mean anything between 30 minutes and eight hours for cyclists, laughs Dubai-based mum Maryah Shahid, a homemaker. “It usually means another two hours.” She is used to this routine, nevertheless. On Saturdays at 5 am, she hears her daughter Zaara, a corporate communications employee, trying to quietly edge out of the house with her cycle, without making too much noise. The door clicks shut and her daughter calls out, “I’m off, I’ll be back soon.”
She returns hours later. Yet, Shahid has no complaints: She knows that cycling is more than just fitness for her. “It’s a sense of freedom, joy, and a challenge that tests her, be it cycling along Al Kudra or around Khor Fakkan, with around 50 other people, who are all from different professional and cultural backgrounds,” she says. Yet, it’s cycling that unites them as they pace through amidst towering cliffs and coastal views, where the sea breeze meets the mountain air. “She often tells me that it feels like a real family, because they’re all watching out for each other, making sure no one’s left behind and doesn’t get hurt,” says Shahid.
Owing to her daughter’s enthusiasm, Shahid has turned into a cyclist too. “I don’t dare to cycle with her; I’ll never keep up. But, she told me to look up cycling groups in the UAE that encourage cycling for older women, and I finally did, after she kept pushing me to do it,” recalls Shahid. “So, on some Sundays, I join a group of a few women to just cycle on the canal side near our place; nothing too taxing or too exhausting, but just fun and relaxing. We even try singing competitions as we cycle. After around two hours with varied breaks, we return home, have a brunch at someone’s home, brew coffee, and talk,” she says.
Shahid is grateful that she has joined such groups. It dispels any form of loneliness and also motivates her to focus on her overall health and fitness. “I feel a lot happier, now,” she confesses. “If you had told me four years ago that I would be cycling around Dubai, I would have thought you were joking.”
She can’t hide the excitement in her voice as she talks about cycling. Other UAE residents, who are busy professionals during the week and free cyclists on weekends, echo her sentiment. For some, cycling is unbridled freedom. It’s something that is deeply personal to them; more than just setting off and pedaling on difficult tracks with strangers. It’s a way to make friends. It’s where you can also find business partners and clients. Moreover, it’s the most comforting way to watch your overall health and well-being.
The stories pour in.
Tales of breakfast and cake
A Dubai-based communications consultant, Afshan Ahmed, apologises embarrassedly at first for being ‘entirely too verbose’ about cycling, as she finds it difficult to restrain herself when explaining how cycling changed her life. Confessing that she had a rather “unimpressive” reason for why she started cycling, she says, “I didn’t learn how to ride a bike as a child, so only learnt how to ride one as an adult, in 2020. My motivation was just to join the bike tour, because I thought it was such a fascinating way to see the city. After Covid-19, I had this desire to be active outside, and decided on biking,” she says. Fast-forward four years later, she’s an athlete, and has even competed in several local bike races.
Yet, cycling isn’t just about race preparation for her. “It’s cathartic; an emotional reset. It’s that time when I can completely switch off from the daily grind and just be in the moment. The feeling after a ride sticks with you long after you’ve hopped off the bike. Even after the toughest rides, I always want to do it again, and I usually do.”
Just like Shahid’s daughter, Ahmed wakes up early in the morning, ‘squeezes’ in a ride, or jets off in the evening after work. It helps her stick to a disciplined lifestyle; where she is in bed early, so she can fully enjoy the sport. Moreover, riding in the morning gives her an energy boost, fueling her productivity throughout the day.
Some of her most cherished memories revolve around cycling, as she says. One particular memory that stands out is when she decided to take on the challenge of riding 250km in Al Qudra. While the exhilaration of completely something so monumentally difficult was paramount, it was also the love and support of the community that stayed with her. “My coach and fellow riders from my endurance club came out to support me. It took over 8 hours, but everyone stuck around till the end,” she says.
After all, when you spend so much time with people on some of the most difficult expeditions, it’s inevitable that a sense of familial love grows. You become a close-knit family, you’re there for each other on exhausting days, and you also celebrate the special moments together, which includes birthdays. For all you know, at the end of a long ride, you might get to cut a cake. Ahmed vouches for this, “The long rides at Al Qudra or climbing Jebel Jais is followed by big breakfast and cake.”
Teamwork, friendship and networking
In three words, Ahmed describes the UAE cycling community: Camaraderie, empathy and inclusivity. “From helping a fellow rider fix their tyre, showing up to support them in their training and races, offer fuel or water to someone running low, or just being there for someone who’s exhausted on the verge of collapse, you know they will always have your back.”
These groups, such as Abu Dhabi’s Cycle Safe and Revolution Cycles don’t just involve small number of people cycling down Al Qudra, or the Khor Fakkan mountains. Quite often, there around 50 to 60 people cycling in these groups, perhaps more, and which is why all the more reason, a sense of synergy and community is required and forged.
Andy Sherwood, a marketing professional in Abu Dhabi and captain of Al Raha Cycles club believes this as well. Sherwood, who has been cycling for over 11 years, emphasises that cycling in a group is all about teamwork. His club organises two main groups during the weekend, both which do around 90km in the summer. The ride distance gets up to around 140 km in the winter. One group has an average speed of 32 km per hour, and the other, 35 km per hour. And then there’s the Sunday recovery ride, which is around 70km, at an average speed of 31-32 km per hour. “You need to watch over your teammates, and there are a few simple rules to follow; it isn’t just a matter of fun and games. "You ride close to each other. So you have to ride in a safe manner. We are inches behind each other’s wheels. So you need to ride in a controlled and focused way. When you are at the front of the group you are using more energy than those in the middle of the group. So we rotate so everyone gets a chance to work hard for a while and it gives others time to recover and save energy before their next turn at the front. You work together as a team to keep people safe and to also keep the speed up," he says. So, if you're really keen on cycling, start small, with simple cycling tracks and then slowly push yourself to go on the longer journeys. "If you are a beginner who wants to join Raha, you need to practise on your own first. Get comfortable doing say, 50km rides on your own at an average speed of around 28 km per hour. Then join the Sunday ride. You will save energy as you are riding in a group and you’ll be able to do 70km at a faster pace. We will also teach you how to ride in a group. Then as you progress you can then join the Saturday ride and do bigger distances."
Most of the groups have similar rules, includes Nicholas Brook's Cycle Safe, co-founded with Stewart Howison, which has over 250 cyclists. Brooks, who has been cycling for over 40 years, also embraces the idea of fitness and community, which also includes the chance to be social too. It’s warmth, well-being and camaraderie, but also you find unexpected chances to get work done without ruining the vibe. Nathan Irvine, the CEO and founder of IrvineMedia, a marketing agency, describes that these cycling tours are also a chance to meet new clients, while also making lifelong friends. “Many people who join these tours are actually CEOs, corporate managers and different professionals,” he says. Invariably, you strike up a conversation during cycling, or even one of the many coffee breaks, you might just find the next client or someone to work with, he says, explaining that it has happened to him several times too and that he has made more business clients during these expeditions than anywhere else.
‘Cycling pieced together my self-esteem’
And there are those, who believe that they were just born for cycling.
Ali Asgar Tashkin, a Dubai-based dentist, doesn’t miss any chance to cycle, if he can. He even cycles to work; he enjoys the 30-minute ride. It sets the tone for his day.
“I had two wheels instead of legs in my previous life, I think,” he jokes. His love for cycling begins from his childhood itself, when he would cycle around Karama, Dubai, as his parents, who were also cyclists, would always encourage outdoor play. Tashkin was ‘that’ adventurous child who would experiment with cycle stunts, including wheelies and bunny hops, impressing all the other children in the neighbourhood and also fueling envy.
He had found a freedom in cycling at that age, a freedom that never wavered. It’s this love and passion for cycling that bolstered a failing self-esteem in school and college, and brought him out of particularly dark phases in his life. “I used to lack a lot of confidence and had a very fragile sense of self-worth,” he admits. Finally, during his college years, when he was at his lowest, he decided to purchase a bike. “It has been eight years then, and helped me just connect with myself,” he says. It is so deeply woven into him that he doesn’t just see it as a fitness sport and activity; it’s a way of life. It has also forged a sense community, as he often goes for cycling tours around the vast cycling tracks in Al Qudra with different people.
Yet, one of his proudest and happiest moments was when he managed to coax his father to cycle with him again. His father, who had been leading a sedentary lifestyle for a while, returned to cycling for his son, and the two went cycling on the bike trails at Khor Fakkan. It was an achievement, a milestone for his father, and Tashkin’s voice is filled with joy as he remembers the particular moment of his life. It’s a beautiful feeling he concludes; it’s a sport that everyone can do and just enjoy. It’s a community on wheels.
‘UAE is teeming with cycling communities’
UAE is peppered with many such groups, as Sherwood and Ahmed say. As Ahmed describes, there are cycling groups — even organised by bike shops — that cater to riders at every stage. “There are shops like Revolution Cycles, Edge Cycling, Beyond the Bike, and Bikeera run group rides for those experienced in riding pelotons, and for exploring new routes or city rides safely. “Then you have a groups that started simply because a few friends or cyclists banded together, and they've grown through word-of-mouth or WhatApp groups, such as UAE Randonneurs and Boon Coffee cycling group,” explains Ahmed.
Moreover, there are also groups specifically for women, like Women Moving Forward, the community initiative by UAE Team ADQ, and Velo Vixens. “I’ve seen women face more challenges and hesitation when starting, so having these supportive, non-threatening communities for them makes a huge difference,” she says.
Mirana Davison, an Abu Dhabi-based homemaker is one example: After a cancer scare, she dedicated to focus her life entirely on fitness. While yoga keeps her energetic in her late fifties, she also decided to learn cycling last year. “I did not know how to cycle before, and was always a little scared. For the first few weeks of cycling, I had little or no balance. But these communities are so helpful and guide you through each and every bump and fall, so I am a lot more confident now in cycling,” she says. “We cycle for around 30-45 km on the weekends, and I can see the changes in my body and mind,” she says. “There’s something irresistible about cycling that just calms the mind, more than a long drive can do for me. You notice each and every mountain, road, person as you cycle by, and it feels liberating. It’s something I haven’t felt for the first 50 years of my life,” she laughs.
