Jane and Kerry

Not to be outdone, I’ve bought myself a new bike too! Actually, I decided that the only hope I had of ever doing any exercise was to start cycling to work, which also seemed like a good excuse for a new toy. As a bit of a contrast from my clunky old mountain bike (which has been hanging forlornly in the garage for quite a few years), I’ve gone for a road bike this time.

It’s a 2006 model Felt F80 (no, I hadn’t heard of them either), which seemed remarkably good value for a Shimano 105-equipped bike. It feels as light as a feather compared to the mountain bike, but now I have to get used to clipless pedals and the new-fangled combined brake/gear levers (last time I had a road bike, the gear levers were on the downtube).

I ordered it online on Wednesday night, and having checked the order status this morning and seen that it was still ‘processing’, was a bit surprised when the doorbell rang and it was a man from TNT with a big box! Top marks to Discount Cycles Direct for speed. Took me most of the day to get it all set up, but that’s what you get for being a cheapskate and not buying from a proper shop.

Now I just have to start riding it!

After looking around and trying out several bikes over the last few months, I eventually bought a new bike today. I want to start cycling to work but never felt comfortable on my mountain bike and didn’t fancy trying to make it up the rather steep hills on the old three gear shopper I used to cycle to school on some 16 years ago! So, I made the decision to go for the bike I liked best in Thomas’s Cycle Revolution, as they were extremely helpful when I had been in previously and are only a little over half a mile from home. After trying just two more bikes, I bought this Giant Expression LX:

I really enjoyed riding it home, which rather sadly was probably my longest bike journey since I left sixth form in 1990. I’m now looking forward to building up my confidence on a bike again and getting fit cycling to work. I somehow doubt I’ll actually use all 24 gears, but I’m sure I’ll be needing quite a few in order to stop me running out of puff up those hills!