I Want To Ride My Bicycle...

... and now I can!

Here is my new bike in all it's glory - a rather lovely Schwinn Hybrid!

After handing over my dosh at Target for this lovely bike, I wheeled it round the corner to a very lovely little bike shop in Fort Greene called Bespoke Bicycles...

I'd read some reviews online and it seemed to be a very popular little place - so I went it to ask them to give the bike the once over and check that it had been put together properly.

It's a great little place, there's hardly any room inside, with bikes on the walls, frames hanging form the ceiling and saddles all over the walls. There's an area in the window with a big bike vice, where the hooked my bike up and did some little tests. There's also, just to the side of the till, a trap door where they winch the bikes up and down - it must be the workshop down in the basement, it was fantastic, the little pulley system was really clever.

I wish I'd taken some photos of inside the shop - maybe next time!

It turned out that my bike had been put together pretty well, apart from the gears and brakes being in slightly the wrong position on the handle bars - but it was all ship shape, and the very nice man only charged $5 for the check-up (unlike the $50 that I'd read it would cost!).

So, with the bike all set - I rode it back to the apartment, just about 2 miles in the sunshine, enjoying the wind in my face and seeing all the sights from my new saddle height.

I think I'm going to enjoy my new wheels!