crazyscot

I bought a bike the other day. I've been having a minor tweak in one hamstring recently, but on two days this week I've felt sufficiently discomfort-free and energetic to cycle to work.

The bike cost nearly $900 (£450-500) from a proper bike shop, and a bit more for a pannier rack. That price point is not entirely unreasonable, considering that if I was still in the UK I would have been contemplating spending that sort of money on a new bike. What I have is very nice compared to my old Raleigh; quite light and zippy, and it seems less longitudinally stable though that's possibly more an effect of the reduced weight. (I don't know what price point the cheap crap bicycle-shaped-objects here go for, but I didn't look for them. Google suggests a couple of hundred dollars at K-mart.)

They have a mandatory helmet law here. Myself, I'm pro-choice and don't wear one in the UK in low-risk on-road situations, but having to wear one isn't going to stop me from cycling here. What I have done is to use it as an excuse to make myself seen better; my helmet is dayglo, practically visible from space.

The cycle to work is a little over 4km, takes me around 15 minutes, and is almost entirely flat. The road surface is a bit rough in patches, but it's generally pretty good. (The same cannot be said in the eastern suburbs, some of which we drove through last weekend.) Twenty-four speeds on a road bike seems pretty excessive here on the Canterbury plains, but that description doesn't hold for pretty much the rest of the country.

I felt quite alive on Wednesday after cycling. Tonight I still feel pretty good, but with added saddle soreness, and I bet my legs won't thank me tomorrow...