Timid at first, easily swayed (quite literally) by the motorbikes whizzing two inches (five centimetres) past my pedals, I now happily join in the waving of fists at pedestrians or lorry drivers hogging MY bus and cycle lane.
Two days before I was set to leave for Cairo, I switched on my computer and saw pictures of young men dancing atop the walls of the American embassy, shaking their fists and burning the American flag.