bikes – T E Shepherd

Thomas Two Bikes

Thomas — Sat, 25 Feb 2017 15:23:24 +0000

After four weeks now of cycle commuting with my fold-up bike, today I got out my ‘other’ bike this morning. Emma is working this weekend, and so I needed to go on the cycle food tour of Bicester to provision myself with meat from the butchers, bread from the bakers, and veg from the market stall.

That’s right, I have become the kind of person to have multiple bikes. Previously I have been purely monogamous in my bicycle ownership. From the tricycle to cheap secondhand bike of my younger childhood to my first (and supposeably only) ‘new’ bike, aged thirteen. It was metalic blue and and I loved it but within 3 years I outgrew it and so I had to a second new bike with the biggest wheels and highest saddle you can get. That saw me all the way through college and multiple moves, for the next 20 years. Both those bikes came from the same Raleigh shop on London Road South in Lowestoft.

Both my current bikes came from Broadribbs of Bicester. The first, with money from last Blackwell bonus, on the day that I met Emma 10 years ago (I rode it to our first date), and the second purchased last month with the work CycleScheme for the daily commute. Big and little brother make quite a pair don’t they.

Silver Treats

Thomas — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 17:48:00 +0000

With all that’s going on in my life at the moment, I figured that I needed a bit of a treat. So today I splashed out some of last month’s bonus (apart from sensibly paying off remaining bits of the credit card this was the first time I’ve used any of it), and bought a new camera. Technically speaking I ‘bought’ it earlier in the week, but today it arrived. It’s sleek and slender and utterly splendiferous!

Fuji FinePix Z5
Originally uploaded by shepline on 22 Apr ’07, 9.56pm BST PST.

Yes, there is a totally useless illuminated logo on the front of the camera when you turn it on, but it is a very good camera. 6.3 megapixels, and a 3x Optical Zoom that is cunningly internal to the camera and mounted vertically, it takes excellent pictures in even the lowest of light levels.

Fuji FinePix Z5
Originally uploaded by shepline on 22 Apr ’07, 9.57pm BST PST.

I then walked into Bicester and bought a new bike. It still has to have the additional mud-guards fitted but I was able ride it home and ride it around. It’s very comfortable, and I think, going to be very useful – and hopefully allow me to lose some of this tummy that I’ve picked up.

New Bike
Originally uploaded by shepline on 22 Apr ’07, 9.53pm BST PST.