On your bike...

Norman Tebbit is often misquoted as saying, "Get on your bike and look for work." Apparently, he never said that, although, in the aftermath of the Brixton riots of 1981, he did tell a story about his father getting on his bike to look for a job rather than rioting.

I get on my bike to go to work every morning. It's a pleasant journey in the summer sunshine and second only to getting on my bike to go home each evening. For the entirety of my journey I manage to avoid cycling on the road and this ensures I avoid any road rage stress. The 3.5km ride into work begins with an ozone scented journey along the harbour front of Mermaid Quay. Next, I cut across Roald Dahl Plass  in front of the Wales Millennium Centre and then up Boy George Avenue (Lloyd George Avenue). There is such a cool serenity about this place as I cycle its entire length. Skirting the corner of John Lewis, I try to avoid running the pedestrians down on the Hayes, then up past St David's Hall to the City Centre where I work.

This evening, I came across this photo of my bike taken on April 24th 2002 out on the Cardiff Bay Barrage. It was the day I first got my bike. I was so pleased with it. It was a beautiful day and I'd taken the afternoon off work to go pick it up at Reg Braddick's excellent bike shop in Splott. I then took it for a spin around Cardiff for the rest of the afternoon. A Marin San Anselmo; it has lasted me well. Not the cheapest of makes but it has well stood the test of time and I've had very few problems with it. If I had to go looking for a job, as Tebbit's father once did, my Marin bike would, I think, stand me in good stead.

And, had Tebbit's father known the right wing, reactionary bigot his son would become, rather than cycling to find work he might have cycled straight under a London Bus, thereby saving us all from the Chingford Skinhead.