倫敦的自行車之路

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中國被稱為“自行車王國”,許多人日常生活的代步工具都是自行車。來中國觀光的英國朋友們常常感嘆馬路上浩浩蕩蕩的自行車大軍。不過,在倫敦,也有不少人cycle through London everyday to work,或者cycle in London just for pleasure.在倫敦騎車是種怎樣的體驗?讓我們快來感受一番。
    好些人覺得在倫敦騎車很危險,因為it's too dangerous and there's far too much traffic.不過,to put your mind at rest,我們說幾個理由,保證你能放寬心。
    First of all there are some cycle lanes you can use. 你可以使用自行車道cycle lanes.所謂自行車道就是特別為自行車行駛劃分出的道路區(qū)域。
    And there are quiet routes throughout London where you share your road space with cars. There's less traffic on the quiet routes.騎車穿梭于倫敦靜謐的街道間,與汽車為伍,卻決不擁堵。
    讓我們聽聽cycling enthusiast騎車狂熱者Richard在英國騎車的感受:
    Cycling is something that I've always done. I was brought up in Norfolk, which is very flat, and when you are a schoolboy, in the school holidays in Norfolk, you want to get around the place, and cycling is the obvious way of doing it.
    Richard 很熱愛騎車,他騎車已經(jīng)有很多年了。但他成年之后卻改變了代步工具,直到最近才又重新開始騎車。中間轉(zhuǎn)變的原因是什么呢?
    Richard是這么說的:When we had the Tube strike, that was it, the old bicycle came out of the garage, got dusted down and oiled a bit, and got it out on the road. Richard 的意思是說,要是遇上倫敦地鐵罷工停運 a Tube strike, 他就會把自行車從車庫里取出來,he got his bicycle out of the garage, 然后騎車外出 he got it out on the road.
    So we can say that a crisis got Richard cycling again. A crisis在遇到突發(fā)事件時,Richard就不得不騎車外出。比如,當(dāng)?shù)罔F罷工停運,沒有火車能送他去上班時,騎自行車上班就成了他的選擇。從這以后Richard又恢復(fù)了天天與自行車為伴的生活。
    所以,只要使用cycle lanes自行車車道,并且選擇quiet routes車輛較少的線路,你完全可以開開心心地騎車外出。
    那么還有沒有更好的騎車路線?當(dāng)然有。因為倫敦的東西南北都有運河穿過(倫敦的這些運河是由維多利亞時期的人們the Victorians建造的,他們?yōu)楹蟠粝铝薬 marvellous legacy),所以倫敦沿運河修建了不少canal path.這些沿著運河邊修建的道路成為了非常好的騎車路線,它們有其他道路不可比擬的優(yōu)勢所在:it's direct, and it goes right into the heart of the city pretty well.
    最后,我們再提提騎車外出的好處。它可以讓我們在出行的同時,還鍛煉了身體。不僅如此,騎車還能促進(jìn)大腦分泌一種叫做安多芬的化學(xué)物質(zhì)it builds up endorphins in the brain.人體只有在從事運動之后,才能產(chǎn)生安多芬這種物質(zhì)。更重要的是,這種物質(zhì)能讓人產(chǎn)生愉悅感,覺得渾身舒坦。
    在倫敦,如果你遇到了Tube strikes,那么騎車吧;如果你不喜歡use the Tube or bus,那么騎車吧。If more people did cycle, you'd get a lot more happiness and contentment in the office generally.
    You can cycle in all weathers; you can cycle in London whether or not there is rain, wind or sunshine.盡情享受在倫敦騎車的樂趣吧。無論艷陽高照,還是陰雨綿延,你盡管踩穩(wěn)腳蹬,腳踏實地地向前走。別忘了注意安全哦take care!