Restarting Commuting After the Year from Hell

Hi everyone

In 2025, I moved to London to become a full-time live-in carer for my disabled god-uncle. The home environment was intense as he faced chronic domestic abuse and legal issues he could not maintain from his residing ex-wife, I won't go into it any further. So much happened. I then met the love of my life and got diagnosed with OCD after 6 months of debilitating intrusive thoughts, I worked around the clock, had no time for myself, and quickly deteriorated until I ended up in hospital A&E. I couldn't cope

After a year of this, my partner moved me in, and I began private MH therapy, which crunched my life savings drastically (the NHS don't offer tailored OCD support) which started the foundations for a solid brain again.

Fast forward to now, I've just reserved my dream bike (secondhand) and plan on commuting to night classes every week from Kent to Goldsmiths, New Cross, in training for the Dunwich Dynamo!

It's been an wild whirlwind. I used to commute every day for years until moving down south. I never thought I'd get better, that life would improve, but here I am.

Being part of this community has excited and reminded me of all the good times I've had on bikes. I genuinely love cycling, I'm truly grateful to be starting this next chapter, so thank you all.

I hope this post encourages someone else to go out there and find joy on a bike and to keep pushing even when it feels impossible. Taking a break is essential, a healthy environment is a priority and so is your mental health and happiness.