Cycling? It's one of my life's constants, it feeds my need for beauty, for delight and for aimless exploring . . . I hope to continue pedalling, nice and slowly, for the rest of my life, with the same curiosity that ignited my childhood.

Twelve writers consider the joys and consolations of cycling, whether in a city late at night or along country lanes on a summer's day. Yara Rodrigues Fowler and Xani Byrne write movingly on coming to terms with loss through tandem biking; Jon McGregor takes part in the overnight Dunwich Dynamo. Annie Lord sings the praises of cycling home on Lime bikes from parties, while the late Dervla Murphy regales us with stories of a cycle through Europe.

Freewheeling is a celebration of life on two wheels, and how bikes can become an extension of ourselves, a type of armour, and a route to liberation.