January 03, 2020

„A girl on a bicycle in the city means freedom.“ My full name is Jana Travnickova and I call myself as a pioneer in women’s urban cycling in Prague. If any of you reading this text have ever been to Prague then you must agree with me that it’s kind of a hard job. With my project Holky na kole v Praze (Girls on Bikes in Prague) I am encouraging girls to start using a bicycle in the city as a micromobile vehicle and lifestyle.

My first experience with cycling in the real city traffic was back then when I was living and working in Utrecht, the Netherlands. This changed my thinking a lot and from this point I started to believe that we all could live much better here in Prague.

Originally, I come from a small Moravian town, where the landscape is mostly flat and using a bicycle for short distances is very common. As a child I was always very active and into sports. Our family had only one car Skoda 120L with the rear engine. It smelled badly and caused me nausea. This probably led me to not liking cars much and therefore starting to really like bikes.

Now, I am 34, living in Prague and working as a Design Curator with the passion for cycling. For the city rides I use my 80‘s steel frame Jungherz (means YoungHeart), which I have bought on the flea market in Pilsen during my master studies several years ago. It was the best buy in my life! And for my fancier and more sporty rides I have got vintage steel frame Giant custom built by my boyfriend as “neo-retro” with modern components.

It’s funny how quickly our emotions can change. Cycling and sports in general have positive effect on our physical but moreover mental health. When comes the bad mood and I am feeling down I go for a ride. It always helps me to clear my mind and look at the things from the other and more optimistic way.

“Cycling changed my life! What about you?”

Insta: https://www.instagram.com/holkynakolevpraze/
Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/23941407

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