April 19, 2013, by Gemma

The wheels are in motion

Hi, I’m Gemma, first time blogger and a web designer here at The University of Nottingham. Aside from working at the University I also own and manage a branding and design company in Nottingham, Gem Design. So, it’s probably clear that I spend much of my time sitting on my bottom staring at a computer screen sometimes as much as 12 hours a day, sad, I know, but I happen to love what I do.

Don’t get me wrong though, I’m not lazy! I run, swim or go to the gym daily to compensate for my fairly dormant job.

Today however, I hired a bike through Ucycle Nottingham who work hard to encourage staff and students to cycle.

A difficult decision to make considering the last time I cycled was over 15 years ago.

I didn’t think for one second that it’d be an easy ride. And in actual fact, my first stumbling block came just 10 minutes after collecting my bike. I couldn’t get the wheel off. “Why remove the wheel”? Because I didn’t have a helmet or the nerve to cycle the bike home, so instead, decided to pop the bike in my boot and drive it home.

Luckily, a knight in shining armour walked past and very bizarrely pulled a tool out of his pocket and removed the front wheel for me. I mean, who carries a pair of pliers around in their pocket, in an office job?

I plan on cycling to and from work, meetings, in between campuses and the occasional weekend ride (with pub visit). As well as my Nottinghamshire cycle map that was given to me this morning, I’ll be checking out some of the cycling routes recommended by the University.

Off I went. Happy that I’d made the decision to start cycling.

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