h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've just bought myself a new bike - a folder for going to and from work. It's a red Bronx Velo-City which has 20 inch wheels, which I ordered and paid for yesterday. I'll pick it up today - it'll fit nicely in the car. It's part of my drive to tet fit and to lose some weight. I'll not ride every day, maybe once or twice a week.

The decision to get a folder was mainly about not having any where to park it and worries about it being stolen. If it sits in the office with me, it's going nowhere that I don't know about.

Funnily enough, I paid for it with money for mileage, that I hadn't claimed in a while, so I put in a bid for several months at once. It will pay for the bike with about a tenner over. Sweet!

Wish me luck with the journeys. The last time I did the journey to and from work, I found it easy on the way there (it's mostly hownhill), but at the end of the day, it was a different story - uphill, and towards the end very steeply uphill. At the end of a week's riding, I managed to make the last bit without having to get off and push only once and it nearly killed me.

That's nice! My son and his ex-girlfriend have left their bikes in the garage of the last place they lived in. I don't know what they expect me to do with them.

Have fun with your journeys on your new bike

Good luck. Make sure that you properly fasten any fastenings that failure of which would result in catastophic circumstance. Do you have gears?

Mrs G has a folding bike. Officially she can take it on the tram if it is in a bag (because it is nobody's business what's she's got in her bag), but if she doesn't put it in the bag, it is a bike and you're not allowed bring bikes on the tram.

Hers is a Brompton. It weighs 10kg, which is quite a weight if you have to carry it any distance.

Plus the bag.

The bag is a light plastic thing.

Yeah all right, no point trying to out-pedant the arch-pedant.

ZSF!

" managed to make the last bit without having to get off and push only once and it nearly killed me. "

I am sorry to hear that it 'nearly killed you'.
Please tell me more.

A few days ago I was driving along in my red Peugeot and this great big lorry with YAMAHA writing on it was parked in a layby. The driver got out of his cab without looking. I had to swerve (otherwise I would have driven into the lorry driver) and the man who was overtaking me also had to swerve. It is lucky there was nothing coming the other way because it could have caused a nasty accident.

Take care whilst cycling and

Hi LS,

Thanks for the good wishes. 'My son and his ex-girlfriend have left their bikes in the garage of the last place they lived in. I don't know what they expect me to do with them.' And you can't ride both of them together! '
I am sorry to hear that it 'nearly killed you'' Ah, I meant that the effort of trying to cycle up an extremely steep hill nearly killed me - it made my thighs really burn. No doubt it was good for me. I'll have that to contend with again once I start riding to work more regularly. Looks like you were lucky in that near miss you had.

Hi DMT,

I'm hoping there won't be any mishaps from failures in the fastenings. When I looked over how it folded, it seemed fairly secure. I was told that Bromptons were prone to their back wheels folding up unexpectedly. Makes me feel better, as Bromptons are much more expensive than mine - even if it's not true. Yes, it has gears - six, I think. The gears are on a sort of twist grip - I've never used a twist grip before - took me long enough to get the hang of levers. Still, it came with an instruction manual, which was more than the older Raleigh that I've got. I had to work the gears out myself. My previous bike had no gears at all - but then, that was a *very* long time ago.

Hi Gnomon,

Oops, see you've unsubscribed - shame.

The bike did come with a bag - and I think it's a bit heavier than 10kg, but not that much. No doubt I'll get used to the weight when I have to carry it.

I gave up riding bikes a long time ago Mr.
My bike is in my other garage
Its' tyres are also flat.

'I gave up riding bikes a long time ago' - yes once you stop riding your tyres tend to go flat. Mine did too.

One of the reasons bought the folder is for exercise. I know that I don't get enought aerobic exercise at the moment and I would also like to lose some weight. As exercise is a mood lifter (something to do with producing serotonin, I think)

I found a questionnaire which I filled in:

long term energy systems improves aerobic or anaerobic capacity Y
long term physical health reduces the chance of illness Y
short term muscular tiredness or heaviness in muscles Y
short term cardiovascular heart rate increases Y
short term thermoregulation body temperature increases Y
long term psychological helps reduce chronic stress Y
short term respiratory breathing rate increase Y
long term muscular toning up the muscles of the body Y
long term respiratory improve VO2 / lung capacity Y
long term body composition can reduce fat levels / increase muscle Y

OK it took me a couple of goes to get it right, but it is a good advert for doing some - as long as its enjoyable and not seen as a punishment.

I've not got the bike out of its bag yet and I won't tomorrow (well, OK, later today), as I am taking my car in for service and MOT.