I bought my e-bike for a specific reason. Bloody tube strikes. When a strike was called, I in turn called me-mate-Mark, to borrow his e-bike. Which had sat in a corner of his house since he’d bought it, annoying his wife. Who prefers different types of ornaments. So, several tube strikes later, I bought it off him. We negotiated. We haggled. We bargained. And eventually came to the perfect price. We both felt we’d done well, and both felt ripped off. Perfect.

Of course, since its acquisition, I started to use it on non-tube-strike days. Yes, there are a few in any given year. And if the sun shines, I’ll take the bike. And the number of days increased (global warming?) to the point where if its not raining, I’ll take the bike. Its quicker, nicer and the best fun you can ever have… in traffic.

I don’t go through red lights. Although I do suffer from colour blindness, on occasion, which make me ‘red-green deficient’. I’m not averse to using the pavements if the roads are blocked. Or traveling along the cycle path for the opposite direction, if I really have to. Like on Haverstock Hell. Used to be called Haverstock Hill but Camden Council have made it 3 year project to keep it under endless reconstruction works.

I love traffic jams. Because I ignore them/go round them/ride across driveways. And I stop for pedestrians… if I absolutely have to. I do try not to kill anybody. Starting with ME.

Tube strikes returned last week; but I was ready. And eager.

And just in case you missed it, last night’s Champions’ League semi-final between Bayern Munich and PSG is only reported upon in untapped depths of hyperbole. And if you read all the reports and distil all the superlatives down and remove the torrent of ‘gushing’ and the plethora of adjectives, all you’re left with is a 5-4 game which is possibly the best match ever played. I’m so pleased to be a lifelong fan of both PSG and Bayern. Well, tomorrow is always the first day of the rest of your life, so why the fuck not? Otherwise I’d be saddled with Spurs forever. And no-one should have to endure that.

Happy Wednesday

A xxxx