Having originally moved to Glasgow from Saudi Arabia as an asylum seeker in 2019, the Yemen-born Balubaid was struck immediately by desire for that freedom.
He says: “I’m a physically active person and in my first couple of weeks [in Scotland] I was seeing so many people riding their bikes and I was saying ‘I want to do that. I want to have my freedom’.”
It wasn’t until 2020 that he got his wish, applying for a bicycle through charity Bikes For Refugees.
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Steven McCluskey started the charity in 2016 after realising the effect a donated bicycle could have for a refugee in Scotland.
He says: “Access to bikes for isolated and socio-economically disadvantaged new Scots refugees and asylum seekers can be transformational.
“Bikes provide essential mobility and freedom of movement, allowing people to access vital community services and activities, volunteering and work opportunities, language classes, legal support and education.”
Yet for Balubaid, the first thing he got into was an accident.
“It’s very well known the cycle path there is very bad,” he says of Victoria Road, the thoroughfare in Glasgow’s diverse Govanhill neighbourhood.
“A car passenger opened a door and the door hit me in the middle of my chest. I fractured my ribs. I couldn’t breathe deeply, I couldn’t sneeze, I couldn’t raise my hand up.”
However, he made a full recovery and didn’t allow the incident to shake off his love of cycling.
“I felt like I was building up a phobia about cycling again but I managed to gather myself and went back again.
“I cycled back and forth on Victoria Road just to show myself that it was a one-time thing.”
After recovering, Balubaid began to volunteer for Bikes for Refugees, learning how to repair and maintain bicycles.
He has since helped out at other bike-related community groups across the city, and last year he became a cycling sensation.
Magazine BikeRadar named him “Rider of the Year” in a reader-voted poll last year after learning of his story, and the BBC made a short documentary about him for its World Service called Cycle To Freedom.
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Now a sports science student in Edinburgh, Balubaid has not stopped advocating for the importance of cycling – not just for those in the asylum system, but for everyone.
He says: “A bicycle [can be] the only option to have freedom and get out of social isolation.”
Asylum seekers have no legal right to work or claim benefits and are instead given a weekly allowance of just £49 – or £7 per day.
With a day ticket on Glasgow buses now £5.60, bikes are arguably the only affordable way for them to travel.
Balubaid adds: “I know the Scottish Government is trying to get free bus transportation for people in the asylum system and I hope that goes through.”
But for him, it all comes back to the bike.
“Cycling helps promote health – physical activity and mental health. It’s not only leisure, it’s for health. It’s literally everything,” he says.
McCluskey backs up the social and health impacts that cycling can have for refugees.
He says: “Bikes can contribute to addressing loneliness and isolation through facilitating new friendships and social support networks.
“Being outdoors and active helps to keep people fit and healthy and promote mental health and wellbeing, particularly amongst refugees who have experienced much loss, stress and trauma in their lives.”
As positive as Balubaid’s story is, there are many more who need support and McCluskey stresses that help is needed.
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He explains: “Our biggest challenge is meeting the high demand and unmet need for access to bikes for refugees and asylum seekers. This requires community support, resources and specialist skills.
“We welcome donations of good condition bikes; funds to fix up bikes and provide cycling accessories; volunteers; and new partnerships and collaborations that help us to keep the wheels turning.
“We welcome the government pledge for free bus travel for New Scots but are concerned that available resources will result in many people in need not being able to access the scheme as well as inequity across councils in how it is made available.
“We need to continue to lobby to highlight the importance of free and accessible travel for all New Scots whether via access to bicycles and/or public transport schemes.”