To Bike or Not to Bike ...

Lately I have been thinking of buying myself a bike. For one reason or another I keep holding myself back from the purchase. If I did get one it would make the trip to the office go pretty swiftly and then I could sleep in that little bit extra. Not that I don't push the sleeping part to the maximum.

Everyone knows there are two types of people in this world, those that are early risers and those that .. well aren't. You can include me in the later group. I usually try to set my clock early (around 6:30) so that I hope it will make get up early. In fact all it does is make me keep hitting the sleep button until the last possible time that I can get up, get ready and be out the door so that I arrive at the office on time.

Anyway back to the bike. I have seen a few at Brian Bell and Courts and they are not too expensive, 300 - 400 Kina for a mountain bike type. But still I keep holding back. Part of the reason I think is because I actually like the 20 or so minute walk as it gives me time to just walk. Being the morning it is not hot but very pleasant. Lately near the sports grounds there have been lots of canary yellow butterflies dancing and fluttering with each other on the way. If I had a bike I would miss all that.

I also like to listen to my iPod - not that I don't use it in the house - and if I had a bike I would get one song in before I got to my cupboard.

It's not like I could really use the bike for anything other than around the campus. I certainly wont be riding it into town. Not because I would worry about my security, but more because of the bloody PMV's and trucks running you off the road, not to mention the pot holes.

So it would really only be used for around the campus. And the only places I go is to the office, the market and occasionally down to the Rainforest Habitat, though that is if usually if I am with someone. Riding to the market on a bike is a bit of overkill, as it is just around the corner, so the office would be the only place I would use it to go. Unless I decide to .. shock, horror .. do some exercise? I could take Patches around on a leash. Then again I would only do that a couple of times before I got bored of it.

At the moment I am leaning to the not bother side of things. May as well save my money and spend it on other things like a trip to West Papua for my birthday next year.

I don't think I mentioned this when I said it was my birthday a month ago (doesn't time fly) but for the last 5 birthdays I have been in a completely different country each time. It shouldn't be too hard to continue that tradition for a few more years? West Papua (Indonesia) sounds like a good as any destination.