So, a short while ago, I bought a bike! It was exciting, and something I’d been thinking about since late February, because it would cut my commute to work down to about 15 minutes. That’s not a bad shout at all!
I did some (read: a lot of) research about bikes, and how to choose your first commuting bike. Factors that were important to me included that it should be reasonably priced and should be a foldy bike so I can take it on public transport from time to time, especially if we move further south and I take a tram part of the way to work. My initial research led me to Sports Direct’s MuddyFox Evolve, but when I placed my order, they took my money… and then cancelled the order. Well, not the whole order – they delivered my bike pump and a gigantic Sports Direct mug (my new favourite mug), so I essentially paid 5quid shipping for a 2 quid bike pump… It took about four days for them to get the bulk of the money back to me, which was incredibly frustrating. Then, I turned to the interwebs (mostly amazon) in my search – lots of options, which doesn’t make for easy decision.
After quite a bit of dilly-dallying, I did another search of local bike shops, and ding ding ding! there was a winner! I found a really lovely folding bike, admittedly for a bit more money than I wanted to spend, and the bike shop delivered it, complete with mudguards and reflectors. I also have a fancy helmet complete with a built-in rear flashy light, and a frack-off big bike lock, for when I can’t carry it inside. It weights about 12kg, which is light enough to carry into the office, but a bit too heavy to carry around the shops when I pop in after work.
Here she is:
After it arrived, and I had practiced folding or unfolding my bike a few times, I popped it in the bathroom (our MASSIVE second bathroom is basically our household purgatory for all the random crap that needs to be for a while before it finds its place), and I hadn’t taken it out for a ride yet. Until today!
I wanted to take it out somewhere that I could ride around without being worried about cars, so we headed down to MediaCityUK, where there is a big plaza area, and I did a couple of laps. Other users of this plaza zone for cycling purposes? Small people with training wheels. Me and some kids, all getting more comfortable with this fun new way of getting around 😀 I’ll take it.
I’m looking forward to the rest of the week – I’ll definitely be doing another few outings to improve my confidence before I tackle a big road.
Everyday Adventures 