Richard from Fife here. I'm 42 and have recently returned to cycling.
I did a lot of cycling in my teens, on a Bitza made from a 1950s/60s butcher's bike frame, 1960s Triumph forks, whatever wheels and gears I could find (often I was missing some part of the system and had to settle for being stuck in 5th). When I learned to drive in 1987 the cycling lapsed, although I returned to it now and again.
In 2002 I decided I needed a new bike and bought one of those cheap "mountain" bikes. I never really found the time to ride it and on my more recent excursions I realised I was so badly out of condition I could barely get past the end of the road. It also became apparent that the weight and geometry were working against me. I had to get a road bike. It had to be decent to give me any chance of breaking through "the wall" and it had to be cheap because Mrs Too wouldn't wear a large outlay on something that might just become more shed clutter.
From time to time I would do a "nearest first" search on eBay to see if there was anything suitable. A few weeks ago this turned up with a £49 starting price, and within a mile of my house.
Four wheels good, two wheels better! by RichardB5, on Flickr
I think there is a very limited market for this sort of thing (despite the Dawes name it's a bog standard bike), which worked in my favour. I got it for the start price.
I got off to a bad start with it. A particularly nasty dose of manflu meant it didn't move for most of the first week. Once I was feeling a bit better I took it out on a 7 mile circuit. I had to stop several times but I made it. The next night I stopped once and the night after I didn't stop at all. I'm managing to do around 10 miles every night now and I'm feeling the benefits already. I can more or less take the 10 miles in my stride at a decent pace now and I've got much more energy. Most importantly, I'm enjoying it.
I'm hoping to be fit enough to do the annual Edinburgh to St Andrews run next year, it's something I never got around to first time round.
Anyway, I hope that wasn't too long. I'll try and be more concise in the rest of my posts.
I did a lot of cycling in my teens, on a Bitza made from a 1950s/60s butcher's bike frame, 1960s Triumph forks, whatever wheels and gears I could find (often I was missing some part of the system and had to settle for being stuck in 5th). When I learned to drive in 1987 the cycling lapsed, although I returned to it now and again.
In 2002 I decided I needed a new bike and bought one of those cheap "mountain" bikes. I never really found the time to ride it and on my more recent excursions I realised I was so badly out of condition I could barely get past the end of the road. It also became apparent that the weight and geometry were working against me. I had to get a road bike. It had to be decent to give me any chance of breaking through "the wall" and it had to be cheap because Mrs Too wouldn't wear a large outlay on something that might just become more shed clutter.
From time to time I would do a "nearest first" search on eBay to see if there was anything suitable. A few weeks ago this turned up with a £49 starting price, and within a mile of my house.
Four wheels good, two wheels better! by RichardB5, on Flickr
I think there is a very limited market for this sort of thing (despite the Dawes name it's a bog standard bike), which worked in my favour. I got it for the start price.
I got off to a bad start with it. A particularly nasty dose of manflu meant it didn't move for most of the first week. Once I was feeling a bit better I took it out on a 7 mile circuit. I had to stop several times but I made it. The next night I stopped once and the night after I didn't stop at all. I'm managing to do around 10 miles every night now and I'm feeling the benefits already. I can more or less take the 10 miles in my stride at a decent pace now and I've got much more energy. Most importantly, I'm enjoying it.
I'm hoping to be fit enough to do the annual Edinburgh to St Andrews run next year, it's something I never got around to first time round.
Anyway, I hope that wasn't too long. I'll try and be more concise in the rest of my posts.
to CC
I see quite a lot of other cyclists, our paths have probably crossed already.
