Kitting myself out

Had my first session in the gym today to beast my legs and get them used to single speed. Went to far and yacked up in the bog. Darn lactic acid.

Whoa! Slow down there, tiger, or you'll do yourself an injury.

Yeah or you'll have all that nice new riding gear and be sat at home with fucked legs, posting yet more threads! ;-)

Warm socks; or two pairs.
Lights: £20 each should get you a good pair. May seem a lot but they are the most important safety device you have. Spare batteries.
Waterproof trousers if you are commuting in your work clothes; or even if not when it's raining hard.
Puncture kit, 2 spare tubes, tyre levers, pump.
Good D-lock; my Kryptonite was about £35 and I use that as a courier so I think it's ok. Depends where you lock it though.
If you wear a helmet don't stick a thick wooly hat under it; renders the helmet next to useless. Cycle shops sell skull-cap type hats for underneath. A peaked cycling cap will fit underneath and keep the rain out of your eyes but won't keep your ears warm
Cycling shorts/tights if you want the added bum comfort. Probably not worth it for shorter commutes.

buy a nice pump and enjoy your bike, you'll be fine.

Whoa! Slow down there, tiger, or you'll do yourself an injury.

I am relatively aerobically fit; just not used to the load the big le muscles put on the body. I run quite a lot, you see, but have ruined knees due to a big charity walk I did and I need to strengthen them up

Womens tight work well as a cheap and effective extra layer on your legs plus they make you look well sexy.

I am relatively aerobically fit; just not used to the load the big le muscles put on the body. I run quite a lot, you see, but have ruined knees due to a big charity walk I did and I need to strengthen them up

If your knees are fucked, make sure you don't ride too high a gear - but then I'm guessing you've already been told that anyway ;-)

Spin to win!

Depending on how badly/permanently your knees are damaged I'd seriously consider not going fixed/single at all, and just sticking with gears. Can't replace those knees my friend...

I am relatively aerobically fit; just not used to the load the big le muscles put on the body. I run quite a lot, you see, but have ruined knees due to a big charity walk I did and I need to strengthen them up

if your knees are fux0red that's even more reason to take it a little easy... as clefty said, no point being injured when you've got a shiny new bike sitting there begging to be ridden... i'm sure you don't need to be told that having a spew probably indicates you're going pretty hard.

+1 for starting with a spinny gear (especially with good aerobic fitness and weak knees), but the cross bike you've ordered has low gearing so you should be cool.

Depending on how badly/permanently your knees are damaged I'd seriously consider not going fixed/single at all, and just sticking with gears. Can't replace those knees my friend...

Yes you can. My mother-in-law is on her second set of replacement knee joints.

what gear does she ride?

50:14 obviously...

I am relatively aerobically fit; just not used to the load the big le muscles put on the body. I run quite a lot, you see, but have ruined knees due to a big charity walk I did and I need to strengthen them up

I'd try an electric fixed gear bike. Pedal really hard and fast like on a normal fixed, but while you are doing this on the efg your legs will make many many electricity's. This will make your knees better.

what gear does she ride?

It's not the bike; it's all that kneeling.

You had to drag it into the gutter didn't you Will?

Shame on you! SHAME.

Yes you can. My mother-in-law is on her second set of replacement knee joints.

And your point is what my clever friend?

And your point is what my clever friend?

Clearly my point was that knees can be replaced. Clearly...

^ I forget you're known for being a pedant :)

Does your mother-in-law have the full range of movement?
My mum had one knee joint replaced about fifteen years ago, and her movement is quite restricted with it (though obviously far better than if she hadn't had it done). The other knee joint was replaced on the NHS about five years ago, and they put the wrong size replacement in. I think they say knee joints have a life-span of around ten years (or at least that was the case when she was undergoing consultation), I hazard a guess that that's why your mother-in-law's on her second set?

Paul-Michel, don't risk our knees because you think you can go out and get a new pair. You cannot replace those knees, look after them!!

Yes. Around ten years for the first ones. The new ones are supposed to last a lot longer they say. Titanium and carbon.
Movement? Well, she can move. But given the fact that as well as the knees, her hips, ankles and elbows are all replacements too, it's difficult. Osteoporosis. :-(

...I feel nauseous...

A mini tool kit, containing at a very minimum the bits you need to remove a wheel and fix a puncture, including spare tubes and a pump.
The last thing you want to be doing is dicking around with puncture repair kits if you are in a rush to get to work, new tube, pump up, and away you go, fix the other one later if you should so desire, I would also include in this a small piece of spare chain and a decent (park tools) chain breaker. I think the other guys here have covered pretty much everything else.

...I feel nauseous...

Sorry to intrude upon you with someone else's reality. Carry on.

I remember before the first op my mum was pretty much bed-bound. The new joint was an incredible lease of life (how do I know somebody's going to quote that?). It is difficult, yes, but I think it would be so much worse without the advances technology offers. In a lot of ways I feel quite blessed to live in a time when the quality of our lives can be improved like this; I'd hate to be bed-bound, my mum was miserable at that time, as she likes to engage with life in a more active way than that, as I'm sure your mother-in-law does :)

Sorry to intrude upon you with someone else's reality. Carry on.

I was referring to my dinner.

Absolutely. Thank Labour for the NHS...