Back on the bike

After I finished my PhD got a job working in a lab about 3 miles from where we lived. I don't drive and public transport connections weren't great. So before I started I bought a bike and decided to cycle.

Cycling to work was great it meant I exercised for 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week and it helped clear my head after a day of work. I no longer cycle to work and the reason why is because I have had not one but two bike accidents. I know what you are thinking "well it must have been your fault". The first accident, a van turned right across my path and took me out, The second accident, the car was pulling out of side road, turning right, again across my path. The first time was quite a serious crash, I had the two-tones to Glasgow Western Infirmary. The second time, the driver took me to hospital. I don't prescribe to two wheels good, four wheels bad doctrine or vice versa. I believe there are good road users and bad ones. In fact the driver of the van from the first accident kept repeating "but I am cyclist too!".

I have seen cyclists that make me very angry! No lights, headphones on and a lack of arm signals!!! The worst one is no helmet. Below is a picture of my helmet after my first crash.

Imagine if that was my skull!

The problem is a lack of infrastructure for cyclists. I rarely use cycle lanes they box you in and people park in them which means you end up having to pull in and out which I think is more annoying for cars. I still find it hard to cycle round towns or cities and rarely do if Andrew isn't with me. That's why if Andrew is away, I am training for the mmm Challenge on a spinning bike at my gym. The Times has a campaign for Cities safe for cycling. Please click the badge above to support this initiative.

With our jobs Amelia and I hear about the UK's obesity problem, in fact Amelia's research focuses on this. If more people felt safe enough to cycle to work or even just small distances this would encourage people to be just a little bit more active. Not saying this is the only area that needs to be tackled but it is one small piece of the puzzle.

If only all roads were this quiet!

Music keeps me going

I try to go to the gym twice a week. I know that some people find the boring and repetitive. I have to say that I quite enjoy it but one thing that keeps me going is music.

As you can see my taste in music is quite eclectic. So how do I choose what I listen to? Well its a combination of upbeat songs and songs I like to sing along to. Though I try not to do this whilst in the gym, don't want too many strange looks.

Training Trip 2

So Andrew had managed to get out for a training ride but with a hectic time at work and the absence of spring weather I haven't been able to get out on the bike. This changed on the 15th of April. We had decided to go out for a training ride to Peebles and back, which would be about a 90km ride.

So we set out at 8:30 on the Sunday. It was chilly, 2.5 degrees to be exact but a really clear day. Andrew crazily set off in shorts, but as we started to pass fields with a light dusting of frost he had admit defeat and put a pair of trousers on! I didn't feel too bad on the bike and we made it to Peebles in a couple of hours. Had a pitstop at the slowest cafe in the world. One hour, a bacon butty and a cup of tea later (the food of champions!) we continued on towards Innerleithen.
From here we headed North back into Edinburgh into a nasty headwind, which made the going very hard. Though the scenery was great and lots of wildlife spotting. One of the good things about travelling by bike is get to see so much rather than racing past it all.

So we made it back about 4:30, I felt shattered and not very bike fit at all.

Andrew turned to me once we got back and asked me "so, do you think you could do this again tomorrow?" and I replied "yeah, I think I could". But the key questions is could I do this for 10 days in a row? I hope really hope the answer is yes.