A New Bike and More Things For My Mom To Worry About.

I got a bike. I had a bike before, but it is stuck in Chicago, since Continental airlines charges twice the oversize baggage fee (2x$90) plus a special $95 charge just because it's a bicycle, making the cost of bringing my old bike over about equal to the cost of buying another here. If you are a bike lover, don't fly Continental.

It is an 18" Scott 20 hybrid, and it is probably the nicest bike I have owned. I bought it used from a guy who works at a bike shop. It has indexed shifters which I don't care for, since with an old school little lever you know and control exactly what's going on, but I'll probably get used to it. It's not as zippy as my old road bike was, but a couple rides on the uneven London streets have already made me glad I have a hybrid. For its apparent beefiness, it is very light. It has little LED lights and a speedometer.

The difficult thing is the riding circumstances. In London, cyclists are expected to ride in the street, that is, on the left hand side of the road, vying for space with the cars. Making right-hand turns requires cutting across traffic and turning in the same lane with the other cars. It also means passing stopped buses, obeying traffic lights, and dealing with pedestrians (including the especially noxious type, tourists). And to make matters worse, in England the back brake is actuated with the left hand, and the front with the right. So my first two trips to and from school have been very exciting.

On the plus side, bikes get to use the bus lanes, which means we mostly have to negotiate with buses, which are large and predictable. We also get to cut in front of everyone at stoplights, and occasionally cheat a little. Side roads are amenable to bicycles, because there are fewer other cars and stoplights. These facts taken together mean that bikes travel through the city much faster than cars do. And it really is a pleasure to ride a bike again. I just hope I continue to live to enjoy it.