On My Bike

At last we finally have a moving date - the 24th of September.

Ever since we decided to move to Oxford I've had this thing in my head about getting a bike so I can ride into town and also pop over and visit my Grandparents and other relatives. Plus, it's Oxford - everyone rides bikes!

So here she is. Caprice. I didn't name her, that's the model name but seeing as it's got 'Caprice' written on it the name is going to stick. You can't really see in the photo but she's got pretty pink and purple flowers dotted here and there on the frame.

Dad just dropped me off at Cycleworld so I could collect the bike and ride it home. A simple task, but this is me we're talking about and simple tasks are never that simple where I'm concerned. The man in the shop adjusted the saddle for me. That's always an odd moment - a man assessing the height of your nethers while you stand, slightly embarrassed, in the middle of a shop. I never quite know where to look. Awkward.

Anyway, he adjusted the saddle and I left the shop and started to cycle home. Now, you may know that I'm not a fan of roads. If I was, I'd have a car or I'd still have my Vespa. I knew that there was an underpass that would take me under the main road but could I find the thing? No. I have no sense of direction at all so I had to call Dad and get directions and then I was on my way again.

I was happily cycling along when all of a sudden I hit a bump and the saddle shifted dramatically which nearly did me a serious feminine mischief! It was a bit of a shock, I can tell you! Obviously the man in the shop hadn't tightened the saddle properly after he'd adjusted it. I returned the saddle to a horizontal position and carried on my way, sat in a slightly peculiar fashion so as not to induce any more saddle surprises! When I reached the village it started to rain. Typical.

I saw two of the many Hedge End village characters on my way home. The first was the Don't-Look-At-My-Garden Lady who always shouts 'Don't look at my garden!' whenever you go past. True to form, as I cycled by she told me in no uncertain terms not to look at her garden. A bit further on I encountered Alright Anne. She says 'Alright?' to everyone she meets. You have to say 'Alright?' back to her or she gets angry. You can't say 'Hi!' or 'Hello!' or 'Morning!'. That just won't do. It has to be 'Alright?'. Once she said 'Alright?' to my sister and when Sally replied incorrectly with 'Yes thanks. You?' Anne slapped her! Hilarious!

So all-in-all it was an eventful bike ride home from Cycleworld. Do you see what I mean about me and simple tasks? How can so many things happen during a fifteen minute bicycle ride?! I finally made it home, rained-upon but generally very pleased with my new bike. And yes, Dad's put the saddle right for me .....