I Pedal Off

Georgie is back at home and I am still here. The apartment seems too big for just me. Well I watched "flushed away" and thats three times now and I am bored of that. I'll save the last viewing for when I see my brother in ten days or so. Perhaps I should invest in another DVD.

Before we even arrived in the US Georgie had her heart set on getting a bike. Not just any bike, but a folding bike. We had been in the US a couple of days and had moved into the apartment. Clearly walking to work every day was too much. We don't have a car, can't afford one yet and want to get fitter, so the bike option sounded great. I selected a new bike off the Internet; it was a Dahon and is also a folding bike. The reviews look good.

The bike arrived after a few days and George was more than happy to put it together for me while I was at work. When I got home the bike looked great. I admittedly soon realized that this was not the kind of bike you fold up and get on a bus or a train. It’s more of a fold up and put in the back of your car/cupboard at home. Never the less, it was a solid looking bike with a mountain bike look about it. We took it for a test ride around the car park about 50 yards away. It was great fun and it has seven gears, so handling the small hills around here is no problem.

On the first ride out to work I was impressed with how quickly I could get across to North Campus. No more than 15 minutes easy ride (last bit is the worst). The ride back is cool too. I can really get some speed up for the first half and the journey before the long slow gradient catches me and before long I am in second gear. The very last hill is very steep and this requires first gear. All this riding is done on the sidewalk/cycle path so not too much traffic to contend with. However, there are a couple of intersections where you have to cross the roads. They have pedestrian crossings, but remember cars can turn right on a red, so you have to be careful. Some drivers are better than others. More often than not drivers give-way for you too early.

I caught the bus yesterday. The weather was average and I didn't want to get wet. Today the sun was shinning and I couldn't wait to get on my bike. I worn just a T-shirt, but regretted it because it was quite cold when riding at speed into the breeze. I left work at 6pm today and after getting lost trying to find a short cut out of the Chem. Eng. building I was glad to get on my bike. I zipped down the hill onto the main road and steamed down the path. The road crossings were kind to me and I was making good time.

As I mentioned earlier, the last part is a slow sloping hill that takes it out of me. I end up going quite slow. Just before my right turn there is a multi-story car park and a lady had pulled past the barrier. She was some yards ahead and I felt she should cross my path before I even got there. I signaled her on with my hand as I was crawling along. She refused and smiled. I had come to an almost standstill but had to push on. So I smiled to the lady to say thank you and stood up on my pedals to increase the speed of my passing. And with that I felt like I had slipped off the pedal and I fell off to my left. I managed to keep on my feet and couldn't understand what had happened. The lady in the car looked more shocked than I did! She signaled are you ok, and I replied. When I looked back a saw a pedal on the floor...

I tried to fix it back on but the screw thread was broken. I walked a bit further and tried again. Nope it doesn't go back on. Well I was a little deflated to say the least. Now I had to walk up the last part of the journey and I was disappointed in my bike letting me down. I got up halfway up the hill and saw a bunch of male runners. They half laughed at me walking my bike up the hill and I had once passed them I heard one of them say "A new mode of transport. Walking your bike up the hill! Ha Ha ha ha." Bastards...