On Friday I cycled to work. For the first time EVER. It was sooooo exciting! Mindful of having to arrive at my client NOT looking like a train wreck, I went the 'easy' way - no real hills, cycled relatively slowly, very tame. And I even managed to do the 'Ring your bell at 8.12' thing.
Obviously I rang my bicycle bell.... It's pink (of course) and spotty. Just like all bicycle bells should be.
And I rang it for the full three minutes. It was meant to be three, wasn't it? Or was it two? Anyway, I went for the full three whilst still pedalling. And it was amazing - there were church bells, people lining the street with handbells, the Fisherman's Rest had a team of handbell ringers in the pub car park, quite extraordinary.
I lie.
I didn't hear a single other bell. Not a one. Nobody about, nothing. Sigh. Just after I finished my ringing I was overtaken by a lady on a bike with a large bottom. The lady had the large bottom, not the bike. And she didn't even HAVE a bell. However, even with her large bottom, she was going faster than me. I told myself it was because I wanted to arrive at work looking nice and I could go faster than her if I wanted. I am probably deluded.
I changed into smarter clothes for work (Lycra not being entirely suitable) and changed back for the much faster and hillier ride home. Having climbed from the office to the top of Rudry Common, I absolutely wellied it the rest of the way home - brilliant! I am learning to love the speed!
On Saturday I cycled to get the papers and wellied it again, going for a personal best. Last time I did the paper run I took 20 minutes. This time I shaved a rather splendid SEVEN minutes of my previous time. And that included going into the bakers and asking what sort of loaf they thought would fit in my rather small rucksack...
Then on Sunday I convinced the Melodeon Master that actually cycling into Cardiff to visit John Lewis would be a good idea. So we did. Through Caerphilly on Cycle Route 4 then south on the Taff Trail (Cycle Route 8). We passed lots of other very friendly cyclists and lots of really selfish runners who wouldn't get out of the way. Unreal! However, the Melodeon Master developed an incredibly splendid technique of jamming his back brake on hard which resulted in a splendid skidding noise. And then they moved out of the way with a surprising turn of speed...
Here's the piccy to prove we made it into town... With the 'John Lewis' logo clearly visible and a rather splendid body in the photo...
The rather splendid body is, of course, the Melodeon Master. And the semi-naked torso on John Lewis is a fab picture of Tom Daley. Sorry I chopped his head off...
In order not to look completely ghastly once we were in John Lewis, it being a Posh Shop and all that, I took a patterned 'chuck it on over the top' effort to cover up the Lycra. I kept the lumpy shoes and the helmet - a pink bike helmet is still preferable to the ginger breaking strawlike hair. And, to their credit, the staff in John Lewis were impeccably behaved and extremely nice. Not one of them said 'what do you look like?'. Well, not in our earshot, anyway...
Photo of the week?
Lizzie Armitstead, silver medallist in the women's Olympic road race. Filthy weather, puddles flicking up at her for over three and a half hours, 140km of sheer graft and she looks like this at the end:
This woman is my new role model...
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