Man started taking cat out on his bike during lockdown – and it’s become a sensation

What started as a lockdown activity for Travis Nelson, taking his fluffy feline Sigrid out and about on his bike, has turned into a one-man, one-cat mission to bring positivity and cheer to the people they meet on their way When his cat Sigrid starts yowling at the front door of his flat, Travis Nelson knows she is ready for her bike ride. Yes, you read that correctly – a bike ride. His white, deaf Norwegian forest cat happily sits in a basket at the front of Travis’s bike, while he pedals around London for up to three hours at a time, taking in the sights – and hissing at any unfortunate dogs they pass.

When Travis started taking Sigrid out on the bike during lockdown in 2020, he was so surprised by the warm reaction from passers-by that he started filming their adventures. And the pair quickly became an internet sensation. Now they have thousands of fans all over the world, with 146,000 Instagram followers and 793,000 on TikTok.

“We do get a lot of strange glances,” explains Travis, 47. “People are often quite surprised to see a cat on a bike, but they love to see her and often give her a wave and smile. When I realised she was spreading so much joy, I started filming our rides so I could spread that joy to more people.

” Travis moved to London from San Francisco just before lockdown Travis is originally from California and he took in Sigrid as a kitten six years ago. He brought her with him when he moved from San Francisco to London in late 2019. When the pandemic hit, Travis lost his job as a software engineer and found himself stuck at home.

“During lockdown we were allowed out once a day to exercise and I started riding my bike,” he recalls. “On one occasion, I was about to go out and she was hovering around my ankles. I just thought, why not take her? I put her in a little chest harness and we went off around the neighbourhood.

She seemed to really like it and wasn’t afraid at all. People would do a double take as we passed by, but we’d get lots of smiles too. It was quite heartwarming and so I carried on.

” It did take Sigrid a while to adjust to the great British weather . “She was used to the temperatures in Northern California so even if there were light sprinkles of rain she’d start complaining,” Travis says. “But now, if there is light rain she deals with it pretty well.

She’s still not a fan of heavy rain – but then neither am I. Initially she was just in the shopping basket at the front of the bike but when that started falling apart, I bought a better quality one. Then I got sent one especially for pets which I’ve modified, so she is super safe and comfy.

She really loves it and always lets me know when she wants to go out. It’s her daily excitement. ” The best suitcase for your 2023 holiday: Antler, Samsonite, Tripp and more The duo get lots of smiles from strangers and they are now a familiar sight, especially near where they live in Belsize Park, North London.

“The news has been pretty rough over the past few years and it’s easy to feel swamped by that negative ­thinking,” Travis says. “What I wanted to do was spread a little happiness. It’s about staying positive.

A lot of people will doom scroll on Twitter or read bad news all the time. This was meant to be the light among that, something to make people smile. ” Reaction to Sigrid’s adventures has been phenomenal.

On one video, a user commented: “I could watch this all day. If someone asked me what the best thing about Instagram is, the answer would be stuff like this. ” Another said: “It’s so special the amount of joy she must bring to people in little ways each day.

” The cat has become a sensation The pair have even had some celebrity encounters. Actor and Harry Potter star Helena Bonham-Carter came up for a stroke and Love Island ’s Molly-Mae Hague has been snapped making a fuss of Sigrid. “One of my favourite moments was when we cycled past Jeremy Clarkson ,” Travis recalls.

“He has some strong opinions on cyclists and when he saw us he gave us the most bizarre look. I really enjoyed that. ” Travis and Sigrid often stop at the park, where Travis will walk her on a long lead – Sigrid is a house cat and doesn’t roam free outside.

“She is too brazen to go out by herself,” Travis says. “She’d get stuck up trees and go wandering into shops and restaurants by herself. She is a familiar sight at our local pub and everyone spoils her.

My wife Bianca and I have had to set aside date nights by ourselves. If we go out with Sigrid, it always ends up being about the cat and we get lots of people coming up to us. So we set aside some time just the two of us so that we get some time together.

” Travis has written a book about their adventures, Sigrid Rides, which was published last month. And he now devotes his time to Sigrid and their adventures together. “Bianca was a bit unsure at first but she has come to accept this is my job now.

At first, she thought I was going mad. I hardly do anything else now. I was a director for an IT firm before with a good income.

Now, I’m barely scraping by. I can afford my rent but what I earn now is not really ­comparable to what it was before. But I am making a lot of people happy and that’s what’s important.

That is the key thing for me. Travis has been with Sigrid for the majority of her life Travis’ cat has been around the UK with him “It’s worthwhile. For the majority of Sigrid’s life I’ve been with her 24/7.

I was working from home in California and she’d lie across my desk. Sometimes I’d take her for a walk at lunchtime. When we moved to London, I had to go into the office for a while but that was short-lived and soon we were back together again.

We do nearly everything together and are very close. She’s great company. ” Travis also has an older cat, Ylva, who prefers to stay at home.

“She likes to be cosy, to eat and to sleep,” he says. “She gets a bit of anxiety too. I have taken her out sometimes but she cowers if a bus goes by.

Sigrid has a very unique personality. ” The duo have visited other cities including Liverpool, Brighton and Edinburgh and Travis hopes to ride with her from Amsterdam to Brussels this summer. “She also loves a train ride and staying in hotel rooms,” Travis explains.

“She’ll have a good sniff around and make herself comfortable. Sigrid makes friends wherever we go – unless they have a dog. She really has a hatred of dogs.

I’m not sure why as she has never had a bad encounter, though some people say she is trying to protect me. ” Sigrid Rides: An Adventure On Two Wheels (Radar, £18. 99) is out now.