Two nights ago I had propped up my bike against our house, while I nipped through the house to unlock the front gate and bring my bike in. I've done that every time I've cycled anywhere, since the summer of 2007 - so thousands of times - and never given it a second thought.
This time though my girlfriend M heard a bit of noise outside, popped her head out of the door and caught a hoodie (complete with face scarf no less) and his mate wheeling my bike away. Cheers.
M saved the day with a 'Scuse me!' and the hoodie made the walk of shame back to our house and handed over the bike. Thank god as he was virtually unrecognisable with his hood/scarf combo - wouldn't have been able to pick him out in a line up. Girlfriend 1 - Hoodies 0.
Anyway the point of this is that I enjoy cycling so much that that won't put me off. I cycle loads, and in the last year I have pretty much been a year round cyclist over the last 365 days - and by that I mean at least one bike ride a week even in sub zero temperatures. I have my tunes playing loud (headphones are a bit dangerous, right?) and I'll always find that there's a song that stands out from my journey.
Today it was St Etienne and 'He's on the Phone'. St Etienne are one of those bands who may seem a bit talentless, and directionless - one minute they're doing Euro pop, the next minute Cod Reggae. But they came to Summer Sundae (http://www.summersundae.com/) a couple of years back, sandwiched between Bombay Bicycle Club and the Charlatans if I remember right and I have to say - they were wicked.
Sailing along on my bike, the sun was out - and yes - I was freezing my tits off, but with 'He's on the phone' blasting out I could almost believe it was summer again. And somehow I don't reckon my hooded bike thief will need quite so many layers on...
