When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. ~H.G. Wells

It's a bit off topic for us here on the CELT Learning Technologies blog, but we've all been taking part in a challenge with a technology of the non-networked kind... you know, that two wheeled thing stuck in the back of your shed at home? Yes, the bike- that (t)rusty steed. Thanks to Sinead Higgins, the environmental officer at NUI Galway, we've gotten involved with the 10 minute cycle challenge and have been peddling to work, come rain, hail or shine for the past two weeks. Why? Well, because it's huge fun, and just to see whether we could all do it.

I'll admit, with the bad weather this week and the low traffic volumes on the roads with the schools on holidays, it's been very tempting to sit into the car and use my right foot to propel me in my metal tin container into work. But, it's too much to give up the happy feeling of whistling down the road with the wind at my ears, feeling that relaxed sense of calm of being on my bike.

I can't describe the sensation as well as Diane Ackerman who writes, "This helps me transcend the traffic, ignore the clamorings of work, leave all the mind theaters behind and focus on nature instead. I still must abide by the rules of the road, of biking, of gravity. But I am mentally far away from civilization. The world is breaking someone else's heart."

So if you see us pass on our bikes, be sure to give us a wave hello! Especially if you are passing by on yours!