Living the simple life and pausing time – all year long
It is easy for cyclists these days to get caught up in the rigid schedules, training metrics, and race calendars dictated by competitive sport. However, for a growing number of people in towns and cities across Europe, cycling is reclaiming its roots as a way of everyday life. It’s commuting, shopping, general leisure, and—above all—adventures on two wheels where we can explore the history, culture, and environment around us.
Former professional cyclist and Lake ambassador, Belle de Gast, is the current ‘Cycling Mayor of Utrecht’ in the Netherlands. Utrecht has spent recent years aggressively supporting the universal health benefits of daily cycling. While the Netherlands is world-famous for its bike culture, what Utrecht is achieving goes beyond the norm. It is an initiative that we at Lake both admire and support. After all, we are a global brand with our European headquarters based right here in the Netherlands—this is our community too.
Ultimately, cycling is an activity for everyone. It’s exactly why we create such a vast range of footwear: from elite racing athletes to weekend adventure seekers and daily commuters.
Cycling for Life and Adventure
Talking with Belle is always interesting. She is one of those people who is active in mind and body. Telling me about several projects currently taking place in Utrecht, with a specific focus on cycling and public health, it is clear that Belle is passionate about using sports – especially cycling – as a health intervention. As a trained physiotherapist, we discuss this and talk about the potential for this across wider communities and other countries.
Cycling is one of those special activities that we can all share, both close to home and farther afield. The European EuroVelo network is a great example of an extensive project, offering the cycling public thousands of kilometres of safe, connected routes to explore across the European continent. During our chat, Belle highlighted the forthcoming EuroVelo conference in Utrecht, where this intersection of public health and cycling will take centre stage, discussing more ways to make cycling and health a routine aspect of our daily lives. It’s a focus that aligns perfectly with our mission at Lake, where we design shoes specifically engineered to keep all cyclists at all levels – everyday adventurers and commuters – moving pain-free.
In a chaotic and busy world, we all need to press pause and enjoy the simplicity of being in the moment. Sometimes that happens right outside our front door; sometimes it’s a little more adventurous, with a tent packed onto the frame. In her journey as a pro rider, an advocate, and a traveller, Belle has used the EuroVelo routes to spark wonderful conversations and share passions with people from across Europe.
Bringing the Adventure to the Everyday
"I'm becoming increasingly convinced that cycling can be the perfect bridge between adventure and everyday life," Belle tells us. "How can we hold on to that feeling of freedom, simplicity, and being in the moment when normal working life starts again? We can change small things that have a massive impact on us and our communities. We can ride to work, for instance."
For us here at Lake, and it’s a thought shared by Belle is the recognition that time is a precious gift and we should value it, be active and make the most of it. That can mean more of us turning to cycling as a means of transport, and not simply for leisure. Choosing the bike to commute on, suddenly turns an ordinary working day into an active transition. Instead of stepping directly from your house into a car, and a car into an office, you get fresh air, movement, and critical time to yourself, with the wind on your face, in a more relaxing environment. As a physiotherapist too, Belle understands more than most, the benefits of being active and cycling as much as possible. Her role at Utrecht allows her to promote her thoughts, and to continue to explore how she herself uses her bike and her time.
The Art of the Micro-Adventure
A cycling adventure doesn't have to last two weeks to be meaningful. It can be simple, short, exciting—and incredibly healthy for both you and the planet. Belle’s advice is simplicity itself:
"Leave on Friday afternoon, take a tent, sleep somewhere you've never been before, and ride home the next day. Suddenly, a normal weekend feels like a small holiday. Go with friends, family, or simply on your own. Keep it simple. We sometimes make adventures unnecessarily complicated. You really don't need that much. A bike, some food, clothes for changing weather, and somewhere to sleep will get you surprisingly far."
While cycling is a wonderful, dynamic sport, it doesn't have to be competitive. At its heart, a bicycle is freedom. It’s a tool to help everyone seek adventure, to pause, and to take it all in—sitting quietly for ten minutes, talking to locals, and exploring the roads less travelled.
As Belle perfectly summarized during our chat: "Enjoy where you are instead of only thinking about where you're going. We spend enough time looking at screens, numbers, and schedules. When you're riding, actually look at where you are."
Comfort is Always Key
If you are going to spend long, unpredictable days on a bike transitioning from summer into autumn, comfort is everything. Throughout her adventures this summer—riding through blazing heat and sudden downpours alike—Belle’s Lake cycling shoes were with her every kilometre of the way.
Designed to ensure that your relationship with your bike is entirely pain-free, the right pair of shoes allows you to focus purely on the environment around you rather than hot spots or numb toes.
Cycling is so much more than a sport, however. It is a whole way of living, of relaxing and engaging with the world around us. And your adventures don't have to end just because summer does. We can all bring that sense of freedom, simplicity, connection, and joy into our everyday routines. Cycling to that café with friends for coffee, or to the shops, or along the many paths that are fast growing, right across Europe, linking communities and creating new ways to explore.
Remember: Time is our most precious commodity, and we can all press pause now and then and try to lead a lifestyle based on slowing down, being outside with friends and making connections, as we try to appreciate the small things in life – through cycling as part of everyday life and fun. It’s about reflecting on where we are and using a bike to explore these surroundings and creating adventures that are both healthy and meaningful.
Knowing your own cycling shoe sizing