Car vs Bike: Swapping Four wheels for Two

I’ve had my own car since I was 17, I simply couldn’t wait to sit my test when I turned of age and to get behind the wheel of my own little motor.  I still remember that first car, the Renualt Clio ‘Billabong’ edition, it was  basically my pride and joy at the time.

As the years have went on I have got a little less interested in the car’s aesthetics but been slavishly reliant on one to get me from a to b, to the airport and back and wherever else I needed to be.  I guess always having access to a car got me a little bit lazy.  Well last August I was in for a bit of a shock as I was involved in a pretty bad car accident (not my fault) that resulted in my car being written off and rendering me without wheels.

What to do now? How would I get to the gym, town, the shops etc?  Unfortunately none of these places are within walking distance of where I live or that easy to access via public transport so while the car insurance companies wrangled it out I had to come up with another plan.  And that plan was to get on my bike.

I figured that getting myself a bike would be the perfect solution, not only in getting me around but in helping me to keep fit – every little bit of cardio helps after all.  Since it had been years since I bought a bike and I was pretty clueless I headed down to my local Halfords for a bit of advice on the kind of thing that would fit my needs.  As a kid like everyone else I had always mountain bikes but decided this time to try a road bike.

In the end the Carrera Vanquish Road Bike caught my eye because of its striking black and lime green colouring (as well as the impressive spec of course).

I’ve now got a new car which is great too as there are some journeys where I do need it but the rest of the time the bike is great.  I just can’t wait for some better weather so that I can take it out and use it to its full potential.

I’m wearing my new black/blue Adidas NMD men’s trainers from JD Sports (the comfiest and best looking trainers around right now IMO), my old faithful Uniqlo black puffa jacket and have all of my essentials packed into my Fjallraven backpack.  Everything else that I have on – green wool DAD jumper, black cotton shorts and wool socks – is from Ron Dorff.

halfords.com