get a bike and ride it

I said I’d cross this one off once I’d ridden to and from university five times… I’ve now done it four times so just one more time to go! I hope by then it’ll have become a habit and I can ride in at least once or twice a week. I feel great not using any fossil fuels to get there and saving bus/train money.. so much so that I sometimes treat myself to buying sushi as a treat to reward myself. [Though hey, perhaps buying pre-packaged sushi made somewhere else in the country cancels out the green factor of cycling…!]

I now ride to the supermarket pretty much every time I go so that’s a plus too.

So I got a bike about three weeks ago from the second-hand recycling place.. but it turned out to be too big for me! The guy let me take it back and choose another one for him to repair and swap for the too-big one. I now have it and it’s great.. much smaller and lighter and I can actually ride up small hills on it…

I picked it up yesterday and went on my first trip today to the supermarket. Only a couple of miles but still. It was quicker than walking so I’ll be able to go more often and buy less at a time – cutting out the £1.80 bus fare back for four minutes I sometimes end up paying, where I still have to walk for 15 minutes after. Ah the joys. I’ll officially tick this goal off once I’ve ridden to uni and back, say, five times!

So I bought a bike from a second-hand/recycling charity! The guy there was really nice and he fixes up and services the bikes before sale. Old donated bikes that aren’t road-worthy are used for scrap and better bikes are just worked on. If there’s a basket hanging around I get one of those thrown in as well! Hooray!

Now I just need to re-learn how to ride a bike. Haven’t ridden for about 8 years and even then I never rode on roads =/

I really should get a bike.. to ride to uni sometimes, to ride to the supermarket in town. That way I can get fitter but also get places quicker and save on bus/train fares. If I can ride to the supermarket it’ll really help, because that way I won’t feel the need to stock up on too much stuff at once – which means less money spent and less bad junk food ‘supplies’ bought that I just end up eating in one go.