cycling is for chumps

there was a theory behind buying a used bike. and i think it was fairly solid reasoning: stuff used to be made to last. your grandpa always said that and you thought, he is a pretty smart guy. so i went into s & t cycles on cherry hinton road on saturday on my way back from watching iain play footie (flatmate, not brother). the guy sort of made me feel like a sasquatch when he said i'd be unlikely to find a 22" ladies frame bike, new or used. ok....so show me what you got in, say, 21". fine. goodlookin' red bike for £55. not too bad, i thought, and i got it all kitted out with a basket, lights and an efff-off lock. awesome. so i rode it home. incidently, a basket sort of screws up your steering. only swerved erratically into traffic, like, once or twice. safely home for a quiet night. let's zoom ahead to monday morning - the bike is in the shop. WAIT. what happened between saturday afternoon and monday morning, you ask? i went shopping (and it was sweet sweet retail therapy) downtown and went to hop on my brand-spanking-new-to-me bicyclette at around 5:30 sunday evening only to find that i had a FLAT TIRE. completely flat, non-pump-up-able tire. oh for the love. so i briskly walked home in the pitch dark, contemplating how bitchy to sound when i go into the bike shop the next morning. not very, i decide, as i want him to replace the tire for free, don't i? i mean, there's got to be some kind of 48-hour pseudo-insurance thingy i can claim. whatever. funny how, on the long walk home, i became aware of the other not-so-awesome things about my bike. the sort of bent back wheel and the hanging-on-by-a-whisper back reflector. but it's got character. now i gotta think of a name for 'er.....