Today, I picked up my new toy. I say toy – it’s rather expensive for a toy. But it’s fast. I got my new racing bike, the Specialized Allez 16. I resisted the temptation to ride it back to my flat and instead walked it home so I could set it up properly.
I have, over the past few years, “owned” a number of bikes.I say “owned” – I’ve never paid so much as a penny for any of them. When I used to live in Hertfordshire, I got through a couple of second-hand bikes from All Nations Christian College (it’s ok, I didn’t steal them – I was allowed). The first, a mountain bike, got stolen from Edmonton Green during the day after I locked it up but forgot to take the keys. The second bike was a rather rusty affair, but was a much faster racing bike. It was very durable – more durable than originally intended, without doubt. Many a time I raced down gravel canal tow paths and on a couple of occasions almost befriended the canal as I cycled much faster than any bike really should on such a surface.
I also crashed it quite a few times. There was the time the chain ceased up in front of a bus. There was the time I rode into a bollard. There was the time I went flying over the handlebars having avoided an accident (right in front of a primary school, too). There was the time my clothes got caught in the bike and I slowly ground to a halt by the side of the road and gradually keeled over, unable to prise myself from the bike. Funnily enough, three of those accidents happened on the same road! Oh, and then there’s the bomb scare, and the times both brakes simulatneously failed whilst going downhill towards a “T” junction.
Anyway, I also had a couple of bikes in Glasgow. The first broke down and was written off in the cycle shop. The second still works, but it’s a mountain bike and is slow. Neither bike has been through anything mildly exciting to tell you about – much to my bemusement. Although there was the time the rear light smashed on a main road in Edinburgh. That was an exciting journey, now I think of it. And there’s a video too. Somewhere.
Anyway, living slightly out of Glasgow itself, I decided I need to invest in some decent wheels. I’d also quite like to explore some of the west coast islands, and a bike is probably the easiest way to do that. On top of that, I have for a while thought that it would be fun, one day, to try my hand at a triathlon. If I could ever learn to swim faster. So, anyway, I’m taking it out for my first ride(s) on it in the morning. Are there any speed cameras nearby? I think that’s challenge number one!