Since arriving here, I haven’t been doing too much in the way of exercising. So, after having a few very frustrating weeks on public transport, and with the glorious spring weather that’s been hanging around, I’ve caved in and decided cycling to work should be a good option.

Decathlon seems to be the Tesco of sports shops; low-priced decent-to-cheap items obviously just rebranded for their own marketing purposes. Be that as it may, they are offering the Triban Road 7 hybrid bike for just under £270. All-in-all, with safety kit and various other tidbits thrown in, I’ve been sorted for under £400, which — in my novice opinion — isn’t too bad. Now if only my employer participated in Cycle2Work, wouldn’t life be grand?

Now just need to get rid of the excess flab and lack of fitness… The first few days have been quite good; I’m getting into the hang of things, and I actually quite enjoy cycling for a change. It’s a great way to burn some calories, beat the traffic, and see some parts of London you’ll otherwise miss being underground. A journey that usually takes anything from 30-50 minutes is now quite reliably under 25. My current average speed is 20 kph, but I’d like to see that reach 25 by the end of the month.

UPDATE: After almost two weeks, I’ve covered a total of 175km and spent 8h30 on the bike so far…

UPDATE #2: OK, so just more than a month later, it seems the 25kph average was a bit optimistic I’ve covered 356km in 16h40, making a overall average of 21.3kph. Gotta keep at it, i guess…