It has been just over two years since the launch of the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme, of which I was an early adopter. After my first year’s membership expired (and my key broke), I decided that there was more to cycling than the central London zone covered by the scheme and moved on to a hand-me-down mountain bike I acquired from my Dad.
Today, I became the proud owner of my first new bike as an adult. The plan is to start using it to commute to work. I’ve done a few test runs using the old bike, which according to MapMyRide is about 16km and takes me about 1hr 8mins. I’m thinking with more practice that could quite easily shrink to sub-1hour.
Owning my own bike (that is actually worth something) is quite daunting, given that a huge 20,000 bicycles are stolen in London each year. I’m hoping to increase my chances by:
- Buying a new lock with cables to attach both wheels and saddle to the frame.
- Registering the frame number and marking the bike.
- Secure bike parking at home and work.
- if all else fails, making sure the bike is insured; either on its own or as part of my contents.
Awesome!! Sexy bike too, Dawes is a great choice. I think you can shrink that hour down further. I do 20km in under an hour – you’ll be surprised how much quicker you go on the road bike when you have confidence. The hung you should think about coming towards winter is clothing. Bike gloves and layers are essential for me (Sports Direct is a good cheap option is funds are low after buying the bike). Have you lights on the bike? Also without mudguards you may get a little dirty web it starts raining etc but it’s not too bad so long a you change and let clothes dry at work.
Great step forward 😀
Yeah, I really liked the bike, much more than a slightly cheaper Raleigh that I tried. I wouldn’t recommend Evans Cycles for anything though. It was a real hassle to get both instore to try, and now I’ve been left with a bike with no paperwork, manual or guarantee.
Clothing is next on the hit list for me. I’m going to get some gloves and cycling trousers/tights, so I have long trousers that won’t flap about onto the chain. Also maintenance stuff; inner tubes, pump, tyre levers and the cleaning and degreasant as you tweeted.
I already have some basic lights from my old bike, but I will upgrade them later. I’m not so worried about mudguards because I’ll cycle in other clothes and we are lucky enough to have changing facilities and showers at work.