I took my Rad Bike for its first spin today, a quick jaunt down to drop it off at the bike shop to have them switch the brakes over. (Americans put the front brake on the left, but Euro style, for Eurotrash like myself, is to put the front on the right, and it’s the very devil if you pull the wrong one by mistake. I wonder if Brexit means we’ll have to swap our brakes around.)
It was incredible. The bike has five levels of boost from the electric motor, and though sadly it limits you to no more than 20 mph, the fact that you can ride into a headwind, uphill, and still feel your legs are fresh and young is nothing short of miraculous. I did the trip in 22 minutes (including a part where I dawdled on a bike path looking for the right building, and got yelled at by a man in lycra for not riding fast enough on the bike path) and then took my very heavy battery home to charge it. (For the first few rides, the recommendation is to charge the battery for 12 hours after each use.)
Later this afternoon, after I’d picked the kids up from their schools, we all went to the Rad Bikes showroom to pick out a seat for La Serpiente. It turns out this isn’t necessary; I just need to fit a sort of cast iron roll cage called a caboose and she’ll sit happily inside that, as we tested by riding around the car park of the showroom. So I paid for that and then took the kids home in an Uber.
The maddening thing is that even though I spent time on bicycles today (I got a Jump bike to ride between Destroyer’s school and home and then back again) I’ve still done 18.000 steps. This seems a ridiculous amount of exercise.
The girls watched too much TV today while I played a game of Blood Bowl (won 2-1 against superior opposition, thanks) and then the tree arrived, fresh from an Amazon warehouse. The kids were excited to decorate it but I couldn’t find the box of Christmas decorations (located it at 1030 this evening) so eventually I persuaded them to bed, after hearing them talk to each other in cross tones just like the ones I use. So, something for me to work on there.
Anyway, tree is up. I buy lights for it tomorrow, and by the end of the week I have a working transportation system for my eldest. (Two on the bike is a bit hairy, so perhaps we won’t be doing that for a while…)