Happy New Bike!

Happy New Year! I haven't quite devised any resolutions for this year as like most people, I never tend to keep them. However, I have found a mountain bike that could be mine, so I don't keep poncing George's.

It is a mountain bike, however it has two flat tyres and probably needs more work doing that my untrained eye can spot. But the price is excellent, as it's free!

It belongs to my mate's dad from back home, they've put it in a free ad in the paper and still haven't managed to shift it (a definite sign of quality).

Nevertheless, with a bit of elbow grease and a few blog posts, I should have shown you how to rescue a bike from the scrap heap.

When I was told about the bike, they mentioned there was a girls bike there too. Immediatley I thought they were poking fun at my traumatic experiences, but they haven't read this blog. I think.

My mate's parents used to go biking together, which is why they had both. Perhaps my sister could take over the other bike and help teach me when I move home from university.

But what do you think - should I add Coach Simson into the mix? What do you think? Do women make better teachers?

The Future-Biking-And Me

Coach Ali proposed an interesting concept to me. As I have been making so much progress with my biking, maybe I could consider it as a mode of transport in years to come?

I currently have a car, which is my main mode of transport between my home in Kent and my University in Staffordshire. However I plan to move into London when I graduate to chase my journalistic dreams and riding a bike may be the cheapest, healthiest and possibly fastest way to get to work...


This would pose some problems though:

1. Is cycling in London really safe, with all those bendy buses crushing people?
2. Can you realistically cycle to work, all sweaty and in a suit?
3. Would I need to wear one of those snazzy pollution/swine-flu-masks? (see below)
   
   
   
   
   
   
                                  I AM YOUR FATHER
   
   
   
   It seems riding around on a bike can even lead to becoming a bit of a hero. Boris Johnson rescued a woman from some menacing hoodies.
   
   Maybe I could become a vigilante on a bike to...new blog idea...Fight Crime With Laurence?
   
   Do any of you cycle to work? Or used to cycle to work? Apparently my uncle started riding to work when his car was out of action and shifted his beer belly in a few weeks...
   
   I may definitely need to consider it then, my diet of cheap Asda meat, snakebites and Subways is doing nothing for my physique.
   

Despair

"A picture says a thousand words."

As you will know, if you have followed my blog for long, I have a habbit of using and abusing famous catchphrases and cliches. I have no intention of stopping now, the image below sums up how I am feeling right now.

Despair.

There seems to be a split with people that ride bikes:


*The ones that can just ride in a park or on a field.

*And the ones that can ride on roads, through traffic and as a means of transport.

What is the point in being able to ride a bike if you can't take it out on the road, ride down a dirt track or race it against your mates? Am I being short-sighted?

Well I am currently despairing because as I almost at the stage where I can ride around a field, stop and start and not fall off.

However alot of people seem to stop at this stage, I have worked so hard just to get this far but is it really enough. Can I ride a bike now? Have I done enough just to jack it all in? Has Laurence finally learnt?

Well, I want to push on and learn, so that no one can question my riding abilites, in the end, I want to actually be quite good.

But still, tell me what you think.

Is just being able to ride a bike around a field enough? How much can you do? Should I carry on?