After trawling through a few of my old blog posts i realised that I have been lusting after a bike since I started this blog.. and before, but just not on the web!
i decided that it was crunch time.. it's getting to the summer, my office is moving, i had no excuses.. if i didnt get a bike now i was never going to!...
the problem is that they are just so expensive!... Pashleys are often £700!... i trawled the web and the cheapest dutch style bike is the Dawes.. coming in at £200 minimum, even ebay and gumtree bikes don't go for any less.. believe me!.. i've been bidding!
I was reluctant to spend £200 on a second hand bike that may be rusty or need work so when i found out the other day that Bobbins Bicycles were having a sample sale i knew i would be there.
nervous about huge crowds and battles over helmets (the American Apparel riot didnt help!) i got up scarily early and armed with a coffee got to the store for just after half 8 this morning.. there were only two other people nervously waiting.. and they were together!.. relieved i started to feel a bit silly for dashing down so early but as we waited more and more people turned up... easily enough to buy every bike the little shop had.
A list was put up in the window of the prices and descriptions.. only 3 were under £250. i had set myself a limit of £200, the price of the dawes, so nervously chatted to the other people waiting about which ones they wanted... obviously all the cheapest! A lovely pregnant lady gave me some tips on cycling, great!... but as my heart started beating faster and the adrenalin flowing all i could think of was that she was my compitition for the bikes!.. maybe this would be ruthless after all!
At 9 the doors opened .. and to my great relief they only let the first 4 of us in!... myself, the pregnant lady and the other girl all immedietly bought the 3 cheapest bikes! win!... there would have been no way i could afford the others!.
i am now the proud owner of a black pointer glorie drum bike!.. its so exciting!... and i bagged the only helmet in the sale!.. a lovely purple peaked number!
I was too scared to cycle straight to my meeting this morning but i had a few laps of the nearby square and i love it so much!... i am going to practice this weekend and start my proper commute on monday..
it doesn't have a basket yet, or front lights and i need to sort out insurance and locks this weekend so all in all it is a lot of money but i am so happy! my travelcard will be £150 a month after we move offices anyway and this way i get some excersise too!
The staff in the shop were so helpful and also great at reassuring me that the bike really is a bargain and much better quality than others!..
So now i can stop pining after one!.. and boring you all.. after these pictures anyway! xxxx
