Another story for the moral high grounders but needs must and money was scarce.
Violins at the ready!
I was a mature student, having hated my catholic school and needing a quick escape and a long brake, so I didn’t do my A’ levels until I was 20. I rode to college on an old Mountain bike my sister and brother had bought me. It was nothing special but it was mine and there were few nice things my sis did for me so it had a special place in my heart. I was living away from home, in Nottingham as it happened, and so was signing on the dole to live, there was no other way of surviving as grants were not available to A’ level students.
One afternoon I was just putting the last of my supplies from the local supermarket into the flat, ground floor, when I saw my bike go passed my kitchen window, I ran out but by the time I got out the thief had gone. My very kind neighbours gave me a bike but it had no brakes or gears and was a bit too big for me, but it was transport. I had no money, no savings and I could not bring myself to ask my mother, I was the one not expected to be able to get along on my own being dyslexic and a complete social wuss. So my confession is:- I went to the DHSS office and said I had lost my wallet after cashing my giro. I was interrogated, told to fill in lots of forms, made to wait inside the DHSS for about 6 hours listening to piped music before they gave me a replacement. As soon as I cashed it I went to Halfords and got some brakes and gearing and took it to a local chap who repaired my bike, also changing my frame to another. I rode that road bike for years on those cheap Halfords parts and cycled thousands of miles on it too and was saddened when someone else decided they would like it and took it away, you’d think they’d steal something worth more money.