A Bug's Life

I have a bicycle! Jessica Rabbit and groliffe took me round the bike shops of Mill Road, and we discussed frames and panniers and strength and tyres and the like. Having picked a design that would suit, we discovered it only came down to an 18" frame - I could just about get on it but it was very big and unwieldy. A ladies' bike in a 16" was much easier to mount, and comfy, and a slightly dorky pale blue so less nickable. And only twice the price, which is the cost of being freakishly short.

Picture of shiny bicycle.

They are giving it a quick service, and I pick it up at 3:30 today! JR & G enjoyed spending my money - I also have lights, a lock, a helmet, bungee cord, and several types of pannier to consider.

I also got taught lots of newbie things like how gears work and what they are for, how to mount a bicycle, when one might like to stand on the pedals, the point of different tyres, panniers vs baskets, which bits to oil and which to keep clean, etc... I have a steep learning curve ahead of me but luckily no hills (this being Cambridge).

Well, I got home, just about! For the first half of the journey I walked the bike along the pavement. Got two dirty looks, had to step into the road once, wedged my pedal into someone else's parked bike once. Hard work! Then there was a quiet road leading to the cycle bridge. Managed to wobble my way down, but I brake far too hard and keep nearly coming off at corners or whenever I wobble. At one point my saddle took a lurch backwards, but I've tugged it straight again. Don't know if I'll need to tighten anything there.

Gears - what are they all about? I thought I'd understood Caro and Austin's explanations, but apparently not - especially when combined with having to remember to keep the pedals moving while changing gear.

If I start cycling uphill (on the cycle bridge) and find I have to pedal really slowly, do I have to move the gear up or down? And does that correspond to an increasing or decreasing number on the dial (Left hand goes 1-2-3, right hand goes 1-2-3-4-5-6-7)? Or would you need to look at the bike? And when you go over the top of the cycle bridge and down the other side, how do you slow down safely without lots of jerking to a stop with screeching noises?

God, I feel pathetic. Something to add to my list of things I wish I'd done differently: pestered my parents for a bike when younger so I'd know this now.

Hmmm. When I decided to learn to drive this summer, I never expected this to be the outcome ;-)