Un petit repos

Yesterday was my last day at my (now old) job. It was a sad day but mixed with feelings of excitement for starting my new job and future opportunities.

I also realised that I will be cutting out my train commute now and so won't be using the Brompton as much. Very sad times. It's nice to think I will be using my other bike, a Ridgeback Velocity, a bit more (and I have been giving it some TLC and attention in preparation!) but I will miss my commuter buddy, the Brompton.

I'm off on a 4 day break to Paris to stay with an old friend and give myself some down time. When I get back though I'm going to give the Brompton a good clean and research the best way to look after a bike that doesn't get used that much. Who knows though; I'm sure to find many moments to use my natty friend.

New beginnings are exciting. I can see my new job giving me more excuses/opportunities to blog more so watch this space!

Au revoir for now. À tout.

Inspire - The benefits of a bicycle

Femininspiration

I'm just doing some research into a bike gift for starting my new job (I'll post later about this!) and I've just come across this great interview with model, Erin O'Connor. I had no idea she was into cycling (why would I?) but I always think it's nice to find inspirational figures who see the bike in its true glory and actively promote cycling. I have come across others and will try and post about them later.

Doesn't she look good as well!

January Sales

January 2012 has given me lots to do so I feel like I have been pretty busy and unable to post as much as I would like to to this blog.

However, I have not been completely removed from my bikes and bike-related stuff. Last weekend I put aside time to sort out my poor Ridgeback bike which has been neglected with a flat tyre in the shed for some time now. I wanted to change its tyres so I knew that I had to learn a bit beforehand. I got this book for Christmas and after finding a few relevant pages to read, I knew what equipment I needed and what process to take to change the bike's tyres. It was great.

I then pedalled down to Edinburgh Bike Co-op where they had a mammoth (or 'Monster') sale on and bought myself quite a bit of gear. The best thing I bought in the sale was a 'Track Pump' - a pump which is free standing and only requires a few pumps to inflate your tyres. It's changed my life completely! As I say, it only takes a few pumps to get your tyres up to their best inflation and it's amazing what a difference it makes on the roads. Also, because it's very easy to use and I store it near the front door, I can top up my tyres a lot more frequently than I used to.

It's nice to have my bike gear collection increase too!

Happy New Year!

I've been pretty distant from the online world this week but I just wanted to wish readers a Happy New Year! 2012 is going to be a great year.