I want to ride my bicycle...

Yip, I now have new wheels… a bicycle! You may laugh! I know people did when I borrowed a bike while living in Grahamstown and I decided to try cycling around instead of using my car. But I don’t care! I have been thinking about getting a bike for a while now (granted a short while, but still) and have been spurred on by my mom constantly mentioning she would love to get a bike and also by my friends letting me cycle on a borrowed bike through Cambridge. So during July, when I felt I could spend money, I ordered a bike through my brother’s work. After a long wait (about 7 weeks) it finally arrived at my house and I opened the box with enthusiasm, only to discover that I had to put the bike together myself. This didn’t floor me for too long though despite my complete lack of knowledge about bicycles and their gears etc. Last time I owned a bike, in fact I don’t think I have ever OWNED a bike, was when I had use of a BMX when I was about 6 or 7. I am sure the bike was in fact my brother’s and if I had use of it, it was probably because he had been given a more up to date bike. Anyway, I digress… I haven’t been a fan of bikes for many years and therefore know pretty much nothing about them, other than they have pedals, brakes and you need to keep moving or you fall off (unless you are propping yourself up with your foot). After finding the instructions on how to get the bike out of the box and also how to put it together, I took the brave step of actually putting the bike together whilst reading the instructions (this reading of instructions is a rare thing for me!). I managed pretty well and only made one little mistake, which I managed to rectify quite easily. Once the bike was all set up, I gave it a go outside on the front drive-way; it worked except the gears didn’t change properly. I have since managed to fix this too and now feel pretty confident about maintaining a bike! Overall I am enjoying my new-wheels, although I haven’t been out on it for a while now due to ill-health and bad weather. I still have to get used to its colour though – pity I didn’t have a choice of colours, as I sure wouldn’t naturally choose a bike that is mostly PINK! Oh well, it is a LADIES bike, so what other colours would you expect?