No, I haven’t been making vehicles out of Grannies.

For reasons to dull to go into, including South Eastern pricing this year, I’ve decided to experiment one last time with commuting by bike. For those who don’t know this was my preferred way of travelling when I lived in Bow but my brief experiment with it in Abbey Wood was not successful. I’m not sure if it was the distance or just my foolishness in failing to work up to it as if I hadn’t had a year long gap. Anyway, I am resolved to give it another go.

Today I spent the morning digging out all my old gear, surprised and delighted to find it all in good order. The bike needed a minor service but everything seems to be working fine now its been shown some TLC and I was reassured by how my old workhorse had stood up. Anyway, it’s always best with bikes to give them a gentle run-in after a period of disuse and so I took my bike out on a short circuit around the block.

Did I mention I live on a hill?

I was feeling quite please with myself as the bike slipped up the hill in a reasonably high gear. I was feeling less clever as I got to the junction onto Bostall hill and positively wretched as I clawed my way towards the heath using the shamed granny wheel to move marginally quicker than the actual granny I only just overtook. I was so relieved to coast down the hill towards Macleod Road that it was hard to tell what was burning more: my thighs or my face.

I am out of shape.

The last time I successfully commuted by bike it took me about a month to get to the stage where I could handle the distance because I was so out of shape. I swore to myself I wouldn’t get into that position again but here I am, worse than I was the last time. Oddly I don’t feel cross. I think it’s because I know how to get out of it this time. It’s just a case of building up. Tomorrow I will venture further afield to Greenwich, early to avoid the traffic, and see if I can manage a medium length ride.

We’ll see.

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