I have a turbo trainer. God it makes you sweat.

I think we've met her.

Cycle to work scheme is nowhere near as good as it used to be, common opinion is you'll get a lot more for your money if you go second hand these days.

How long is the scheme over? You don't own the bike and have to buy it at market value at the end of the scheme on top of the payments you've made.
Sure, it'll be a bit cheaper than buying outright new, but not by a huge amount, and you don't actually own the bike till the end.

Most places do 0% finance now on new bikes. I would go for a new one but it seems the 6 I own is 4 too many, and I would have to get rid of at least one.

Not on our scheme. 12 months. It means it is £83 a months, but the tax and ni make it £46 approx.

To cover it reduced my holiday by 5 days

I'd double check that, as far as I was aware they all end with you needing to buy the bike at the end of the scheme at market value. They never used to, but that was shut down a short while back as it was seen as too much of a tax dodge.

I could be wrong, but that was what I was led to believe when I looked into it last year.

To quote mine...

Cycle to Work
Take advantage of the government sponsored tax exempt Cycle to Work scheme which helps to save you money on the cost of a bicycle and safety equipment.

Select up to £1,000 to spend on a bicycle and safety equipment of your choice. You must agree to use the bicycle mainly for ordinary commuting and/or business journeys.

You then hire the bicycle and equipment from us over a 12-month period, making ‘payments’ via Salary Sacrifice. As the cost is taken prior to Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions, you save money on the cost of the bike.

You will have to either give the bike back after 12 months, or buy it off the company at the end though. But it sounds like that (if the people in this thread are typical) is turning out to be a nominal fee rather than actual market value, so you should be fine

Are you planning to use the bike for any business journeys that aren't commuting to work? i.e. cycling between offices, cycling to clients, etc... If so, then cycle to work schemes stop you being able to claim 20p per mile in expenses from the government, so that might be a factor to think about.

I am going to use it for my Local office commute, the between office is a good idea, but I will be using my old bike

Cor, that looks nice. I ran the Great Manchester run a couple of times - great, big, fun atmosphere.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/672054694

Pathetic. It was windy as fuck but even so. Had no idea how out of shape I've got. Still with that as a starting point finding improvement should be pretty easy.

I'm still in pain after doing resistance training with my PT on Friday for the first time this year - they're evil little sods. Still managed my 1km swim training today, but when I got in the high pressure jet pool after I actually screamed as it hit my thigh - what the hell has he done to me?! So pleased I have another session tomorrow. *cries*

Still, the combo of having given up alcohol and training at least 4 times a week is doing some serious getting-smaller and healthier magic, so shall persist! might just have to punch my PT occasionally to make myself feel better about the pain..

I had a sports massage on Saturday, I still hurt today

The really do go for it, don't they? Good for us, apparently *looks dubious* Still, I'm sure we're seeing the overall improvements!!

Yes, he was evil. I should do a swim, but I am knackered.

Keep meaning to take some swimming lessons. I can swim ok and am confident but my technique is just inefficient, uncoordinated and awful, two lengths of pitiful flailing and I'm done.

I've been running again over the last week. Starting small doesn't cover it. My block is exactly 700 meters and I do one lap per day. It takes just over 4 minutes at my current speed. I shall continue doing one lap per day until it's easy, then I shall attempt further.

The annoying thing is, I know my body can run much further and much faster, but my stupid asthma is limiting my range. Hence the slow start. Gotta build up that cardio. My general heath and weight have improved greatly recently and my non-aerobic fitness is better than it ever has been since I was a teenager.

it is free after that