Cycling

After my try at cycling on Tuesday, I realised mountain bikes are not made for casual rides (duh!) as it tired me too much. So, I decided to get a road bike, a ladies road bike. And it came with a basket! A ladies bike, hopefully will allow cycling in skirt. I bought it from a French girl who was leaving London and cycled back from King’s Cross for 45 minutes(including reading the map in between). Well, the bike surely is built for my height and makes cycling a pleasure. I need to change one or two of the tires as they are a bit worn out. There are a few things in that cycling can add value:

1. It’s a good mode of transport to uni on a good day, saving me money on transport. However, if there are more bad days than good in a given month, I might not save on the pay as you go scheme as it is more expensive than a monthly travel pass.

2. Timing wise, I might save 10-15 minutes a trip if I manage to cycle without looking at the map. Savings of 40 minutes a day gives me the extra time to do other things such as stay longer in bed!

3. It is a good exercise. A minimum of 40 minutes of cycling does count as exercising, more so at the beginning when I first start it, before th body gets used to it.

4. Trying different routes in London would give me the opportunities to explore London in a way that I wouldn’t if I were to walk down those roads. This flexibility does create a little bit of adventure.

5. I also can go on cycling trips down the country side with friends, which is a healthy, cheap and good experience.

6. Regarding going places, it’s easy to park anbywhere in the city, given the railings provided. However, it does take time to do so(parking, locking, unlocking).

One downside of my experience is I chose the wrong time of thew year to start. As the weather is getting colder, cycling becomes a challenge and laziness might hinder my progress. We just have to wait and see! Hopefully Boris Johnson(London’s mayor) will make London more cycle friendly than it is now.