cameramanjim
Getting faster, very slowly
- Location
- Battersea, London
Hi all,
Help! I´ve just (re) discovered cycling by accident at the ripe old age of 54 and I´m wondering if there´s a Cyclists Anonymous because it´s getting out of control!
A few months ago I injured a knee injury that meant I had to stop running, so started to cycle more often on my nearly 20 year old Coventry Eagle ´Cannon´. This is certainly no flying machine and a 7 mile trip from Battersea to Kings Cross felt like a marathon. Wasn´t enjoying much it to be honest. Then three things happened:
First, a work colleague cycled the Tour de France route on a touring bike carrying a tent and a ton of back up gear, and I followed his progress on his daily blog. Most inspiring. Second, I took my bike to Apex Cycles in Clapham to get the gears looked at, and they had a second hand Trek 7100, which I bought on the spur of the moment. Big improvement on the twice a week commute to work.
Third, my daughter´s boyfriend turned up at our house with a beautiful custom single speed bike. It weighed about the same as a box of matches and, perched in the front room, it kept sort of winking at me, knowingly.
So suddenly I´m hooked. I seem to spend half my time in and out of bike shops buying ´accessories´ or lurking in the basement of Condor cycles gazing at the ´goods´ like an old perve in a porn bookshop. I´ve got a Charge Plug in the post (299.99 from Wiggle, can you believe it!?) and now need a Sunday best bike (well as close as I can get with a grand under the C2W scheme. Any suggestions gratefully received!
I´m trying to draw up a short list and so far have come up with:
Condor (various)
Specialized Allez Elite
Chris Boardman Team thingy
Charge Juicer Hi
Wieler, Giant, Scott, Cube, aaaagh the list goes on.
I´m off to the bike show at Earl´s Court on Thursday.
Will this madness never end!
Thanks
PS The knee turned out not to be so serious. And now I´m getting fit, so the missus (sorry dear if you´re reading this) can´t complain. Better than the Porsce mid life crisis!
Help! I´ve just (re) discovered cycling by accident at the ripe old age of 54 and I´m wondering if there´s a Cyclists Anonymous because it´s getting out of control!
A few months ago I injured a knee injury that meant I had to stop running, so started to cycle more often on my nearly 20 year old Coventry Eagle ´Cannon´. This is certainly no flying machine and a 7 mile trip from Battersea to Kings Cross felt like a marathon. Wasn´t enjoying much it to be honest. Then three things happened:
First, a work colleague cycled the Tour de France route on a touring bike carrying a tent and a ton of back up gear, and I followed his progress on his daily blog. Most inspiring. Second, I took my bike to Apex Cycles in Clapham to get the gears looked at, and they had a second hand Trek 7100, which I bought on the spur of the moment. Big improvement on the twice a week commute to work.
Third, my daughter´s boyfriend turned up at our house with a beautiful custom single speed bike. It weighed about the same as a box of matches and, perched in the front room, it kept sort of winking at me, knowingly.
So suddenly I´m hooked. I seem to spend half my time in and out of bike shops buying ´accessories´ or lurking in the basement of Condor cycles gazing at the ´goods´ like an old perve in a porn bookshop. I´ve got a Charge Plug in the post (299.99 from Wiggle, can you believe it!?) and now need a Sunday best bike (well as close as I can get with a grand under the C2W scheme. Any suggestions gratefully received!
I´m trying to draw up a short list and so far have come up with:
Condor (various)
Specialized Allez Elite
Chris Boardman Team thingy
Charge Juicer Hi
Wieler, Giant, Scott, Cube, aaaagh the list goes on.
I´m off to the bike show at Earl´s Court on Thursday.
Will this madness never end!
Thanks
PS The knee turned out not to be so serious. And now I´m getting fit, so the missus (sorry dear if you´re reading this) can´t complain. Better than the Porsce mid life crisis!
