The beauty of Breeze is that no rider gets left behind. A simple bike ride has evolved into communities of women across Wales and the UK who support and understand each other.
In Ciliau Aeron, volunteer Breeze Champion, Nia Richards, has led 386 rides over the past decade. In that time, she has welcomed a community of female riders of all ages and abilities, helping them escape from their challenges in life.
“All of your thoughtful arrangements worked perfectly and we had a lovely time everywhere we went in your wonderful country.”
Anthony Wood – Traveller
From strangers to saddle mates
For Karen Davies (53), Breeze has helped her manage health conditions, including arthritis and anxiety.
After undergoing a hysterectomy in 2018 that triggered early menopause, Karen struggled. Since then, she has battled with health challenges including a bad back, crippling arthritis in her feet, as well as anxiety.
No longer able to run, she bought an e-bike and joined the Breeze rides as a low impact way of keeping fit. And while Karen has always felt self-conscious of her weight, she never feels judged by the other riders.
Taking to the roads with the girls reduces her anxiety levels and she enjoys an enduring feelgood factor, long after she’s popped the bike back in the garage.
Karen’s story: Gearing up for wellness
Siara Lloyd is showing no signs of slowing down. She is 66 and discovered the love of cycling around ten years ago. Having joined a local club with her husband, she has since clocked up countless miles of riding across the UK and on holidays in Spain.
But recently retiring to New Quay and leaving her much-loved club behind, Siara was keen to meet new friends and explore Ceredigion. That was six months ago, and she now heads out with her ‘Breeze girls’ once or twice a week, often adding in extra rides and lunch dates with her new circle of friends.
As we yearn to reconnect with friends, family, and the world at large, I think that what we’ve gone through has also given many of us a chance to reflect on all the things we took for granted: the outdoors, community, neighborhood restaurants, and the arts.
From flouting rules and refusing to wear a mask to hosting parties, coughing on others, and just generally being selfish, the pandemic has shown us that the world is filled with more assholes than we thought. But, despite all of that, when it comes to the future of travel, I think the pandemic is going to make it better.
