Well, it is!

It’s amazing – I literally got on and away I went. It’s as if I’d never stopped riding…

Cycled about the nearby park, then went over to the Douglasfield Odeon, and back via Asda. Normally this would be a bit of an undertaking, but the whole thing was dealt with in less than an hour… And quite frankly with buses it takes about that long, what with waiting about.

My thighs are going to be sore tomorrow, though… And I need windscreen wipers for my glasses

Tomorrow, I think I shall have to do some reconnaisence, so that I can find out how to get to work by bike… and then cycle to work every day! Fitness shall be mine! Again, it probably won’t take much longer than going by bus, given waiting and buses not taking the direct route. But I think I shall consult a street map to find the best route, as I’m pretty sure bikes aren’t allowed on dual carriageways.

It’s strange how you have to look at everything differently. You look at roads differently, cars differently… You can’t get from point A to point B in the same way anymore. I have to plan my gear changes carefully… I have to remember that I’m a small fragile thing surrounded by large armour-plated lumps travelling at speed, driven by people who are not necessarily concerned with my best interests, or blessed with the best in perceptive skills…

The Bike has fifteen (!) gears, on this funky twist-grip system on the handlebars. Presumably this is not even remotely a new development, but it’s also entirely possible that it’s ten years since I last set, ah, foot, on a bike… I’ve got three on the left-hand grip (operating the front gear) and six on the right (Hm. Might that be eighteen gears?). So it’s easier to use than the old levers-under-the-frame Derailleur way. But I still have to get used to what gear to use when… And I have to really push number-three-on-the-left (the highest gear range) to get it in.

The nice thing is that although I can still go quite quickly on the straight, I can deal with quite steep hills. I was defeated by one hill today, but that was mostly due to me not getting the gear-changes right. I was still on the middle range of gears when I had to stop – I probably could have made it if I’d managed to get to the lower range at the right time.

I also have to get around a lot, get to know the local area from a bikes-eye-level. Find out the most efficient way of getting to and from various points of interest. See if I can stay relatively level At the moment, for example, getting from ASDA back home means I end up going down quite a way, then up again. So, in theory I should be able to manage that without much in the way of hillage.

Anyway. Early start tomorrow. To bed.