ewt | More wittering about somene else's bicycle

Absolutely lovely.

I was too scared to ride on the roads, because I didn't have my helmet and I hadn't ridden a proper bicycle since before my fall in September, and so on. So, I rolled the folded bicycle to the start of the footpath, rode all the way to the church, got off, walked the bicycle to Tesco, folded it, rolled it around inside looking for a tyre pump, did not find a tyre pump but got some sewing elastic for attaching things to the luggage rack, left Tesco, unfolded, walked around the corner to the Post Office, picked up a parcel, attached it to the luggage rack, walked the bicycle to the other end of the footpath, saw the "NO CYCLING" sign, walked until I was clear of all the students and figured it would be okay to cycle, cycled the rest of the way back except for the bit with the busy road, where I got off and walked again.

Thoughts:
-cycling is actually less painful for me than walking. This kindof makes sense but it surprised me, especially when going from cycling to walking.
-tension when holding onto handlebars is bad and makes my elbow hurt. It also makes the steering wonky. If I relax and don't lean on my arms, though, I'm fine.
-gosh it's quiet
-the bell is cute
-I need to put the seat higher (currently it is at what I estimate is the right height for

hairyears, who is not as tall as I am)
-the parcel did not fall off, so I win at parcel-attaching
-it's a lot easier to roll along unfolded than folded (I found it easier than a 'normal' bicycle in fact); however when it is folded the rolling along can be done without any horrible bending over and so on. I wouldn't want to do it for miles but it's certainly fine for changing between trains.
-fold-up pedals really do make a difference. I heart them.
-folded, it goes up and down stairs okay... again, I wouldn't want to do it for miles, but it should be sufficient for most Tube travel.
-wow it's easy to fold and unfold!

I think if it were mine I would start cycling a few days a week. I'd start with the Thames Path, which mostly doesn't have cars on it, and gradually work my way toward Actual Roads With Cars On, and eventually toward Riding To Visit Other People, and riding to and from students on Sundays...

So. Yes. I thought I wanted one of these, now I've tried one and I still think I want it. I might try to borrow it for a week or two at some point to see if I really really still want one, but I think I'd best let

hairyears have a go first ;P

I didn't test it on long grass or anything so I'm not sure how useful it is off of paved surfaces, but even if it won't do grass it would be good for foraging because it would extend my realistic range so much. Who knows, I might even have to get a trailer...