Bicycle! Bicycle! I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike...

So I've been making some improvements to my bike of late. I now have slick tyres thanks to Ben. I also now have a new comfy 'female friendly' seat. I haven't had a chance to take it for a proper ride yet with the new seat, but I'll be looking forward to that on Thursday.

Now this might seem stupid, but it was a big thing for me. I managed to change my inner tube on my own the other day. As it was the back tyre, it was the one with all the gears and stuff on it, so it had an extra degree of difficulty to take off and put back on. anyway to cut a long story short, I did it all on my own, and it was no way near as hard as I had anticipated. By the time I finished I was all greasy and couldn't help but think 'I bet this is the kind of satisfaction Ben feels'.

My sister Jane is getting a new bike for her birthday. At this stage she is looking at buying a SUB bike. I'm starting to know how Tony feels and getting bike envy.

So anyway, I can't wait for her to get it so we can start to do lots of riding together. She is really keen to work herself up to riding to work one day a week. She is further South than I am, and would need to ride all the way to Osbourne Park.

Jane and I were really close as kids and did everything together. As a teenager, she wasn't too fond of me and we drifted apart. It's only been in the last 7 or 8 years that we've become close again. The only thing is that we are so busy with our own lives we just don't have enough time to spend with each other. So Jane getting into riding will be a great chance for us to spend some time together.

It's so nice to inspire someone to get healthy. All the extra exercise I've been doing in the last year has really inspired both my sister and Mum to do more exercise. Mum looks much better for it, and Jane has dropped about 10kg herself this last year. I just hope with the new bike coming soon, Jane will really enjoy riding and can become even fitter.