A new set of wheels.

Woah, what an effort. After a week of traveling almost half way to work on the bus then having to walking the rest of the way, this is due mainly to Thames water deciding to dig up half the road, I decided to get myself a bike. I hunted around in Gumtree and ebay for a while before I came across a bike that looked ok. It turns out to be worth pretty much what I payed for it. but for thirty pound I am happy with it. At the moment it has a 10 speed deralier that is a bit worn and fiddly, new cranks, new break levers, new brake pads, the dodgy old-school brakes, a plastic seat and mountain bike handle bars.

Already I am thinking of getting rid of the rear 5 gears and converting it to a single speed freewheeling bike. London is so flat with hardly any hills so you can get away with only one or two gears. The other thing I am thinking of doing is getting rid of the wide handle bars and trying to find myself a cheap pair of courier handle bars, ro ill just chop them off. Squeezing through the gaps between cars and busses will be made so much easier. How I came to these decisions, well that is quite a journey.

I met the bloke at Redbridge tube station after school and had a little try on the bike. Already I realised that the gears were a bit didgy and shit, but for a cheap bike I was willing to put up with gears that were a bit twitchy. After handing over the money, I decided to let this guy show me the way to the nearest train station. You cannot take bikes on the tube, you have to take them on the overground, even then getting a train to where my house is is almost like trying to get a train to chatswood from Ryde via Sutherland. So I set off on what I had originally found out to be a 1 hour bike ride, of about 3 - 5 miles. Not that far, I know. But as it is, without knowledge of the streets and arriving at the locatioin via the tube I was completely out of my depth.

A quick call to Sarah to get on the internet for some directions resulted in no pleasure. So back to plan C, following, what I guessed were familiar bus routes, but were in fact bus routes that took me on a explotory journey across the NE of greater London. I went from Redbridge to Ilford and back again, on to Wandsworth flats, on towards Leyton, where I had once taught for a day, continuing up north towards Walthamstow Central train station. Here is where I had thought I had rounded the corner back into familiar street knowledge. However I did make a silly mistaake and continue on Past Walthamstow Central following the 230 bus route in the wrong direction. Woah.

So back to Walthamstow Central, then following the 230 bus towards Turnpike Lane, where I fianlly met up with Seven Sisters road and that is where I knew where I was... I had set off at around 6:00pm and arrived home close to 9:00pm. Quite a journey, and one that I didn't particulary want to take on an unfamiliar bike. But in the end I guess I now know what my bike is really like. I just have to sort the rest of the stuff out...