I recently bought two second-hand books on cycling, and although I rarely cycle, they were both interesting reads. The Escape Artist, by Matt Seaton, is an excellent short book, describing the author’s passion for cycling. Two Wheels, by the same author, is a varied and interesting collection of the author’s short, Guardian articles on biking.
My first bike, at about the age of 12, was a second-hand beast much like the one shown. It was so very old-fashioned that I just had to customise it to reduce the embarrassment of riding the horror!
Firstly I removed the chain guard and replaced the curly handlebars with drop-handlebars. Finally I painted it turquoise! It must have been a sight for sore eyes, but my recollection is that I believed it to be the bee’s knees.
I haven’t really done much cycling as an adult.
In 2007 I hired a bike in Stockholm.
Whilst in New Zealand in 2009, we hired bikes and cycled along a rough path alongside the lake at Wanaka.
In this short video I’m holding my camera with one hand and steering with the other. In hindsight this was probably somewhat reckless.
things change 