I Want to Ride my Bicycle

Since the beginning of this blog, I've talked about cycling. In Paris, the fashion, the details and courier culture have been a bit of a theme with me, and it's only natural that I've been cycling quite a bit myself since last year. I borrowed my brilliant mate Ross' spare mountain bike for getting around town. And it really taught me how lovely it it to cycle around. Free exercise, free travel and free from other people getting in the way (mostly). But still, I got serious bike envy: Ross has had some gorgeous racing bikes, both old and new; I've seen beautiful Dutch-style bikes, admired the pared-back fixie simplicity and loved some of the vintage racing bikes I've seen around town. I knew that back at my parents house we had an old Peugeot which would be perfect for whizzing around town, and I was finally able to bring it down last weekend, after spending a day sanding, polishing, oiling and buffing it. And doesn't it look great? It's originally a racing bike, but it's been fitted with chrome mudguards and a rear luggage rack; it's also got gears rather than being fixed or single-speed, which makes the (surprisingly numerous) small hills much more manageable. The tyres are wider road tyres rather than the slimmer racing ones, which provide more grip and absorb the many potholes in the roads better. I'm going to change the saddle and handlebars (any ideas on colours?), and get a basket to fit to the back so I can just chuck my bag into it, rather than lug it about on my back. I freely admit that this is more of a runaround than a style-bike; hopefully, once I get myself into the routine, I'll be cycling to work and avoiding buying an Oyster travelcard at all. But I'm not going to take it too seriously. For now, my bike's taking me on shopping trips to Liberty (the handlebars hold a surprising number of bags!), errands around town, the supermarket and the park. Maybe next week I'll get myself down to work. For now, I'm just loving the ability to get on my bike and get somewhere fast, free and a little out of breath. Other Staples this week:
Cycling around town
Having a bit of a DIY Moment; Cleaning windows, building a greenhouse etc
A refreshing pint of cider on a warm day
Lounge Bohemia's brilliant cocktails
Record Store Day, and Graham Coxon's new prog-esque direction
Climbing Crinkle Crags in the Lake District on a gorgeous day
Leftover Easter chocolate from a long weekend at home