Long ago when I was a student we rented the upstairs floor of a two-storey late Victorian house. We cycled a lot at the time, and there was no ground floor accommodation for our bikes, so I had to carry them up the stairs to where we parked them on the landing. It wasn't the easiest manouevre but it had to be done, so I did it. As we were walking around the canal and marina in Gloucester recently I looked at these nicely lit flats and spotted a couple of balconies with bikes. They were on the first and third floors, I think, and must have needed regular lifting. But, as I thought about it, I pondered two developments that might make the task easier today - electric lifts and lighter-weight cycles.
photo © T. Boughen Camera: Nikon Z 5
