📕 Part 1: Bicycles

Did you have a bike when you were young?

I did, indeed. I remember it vividly, actually. It had blue and black patterns on it, and the word Big Shot was stencilled on the frame.

Do you have a bike now?

Nah, I get around on foot these days. I'm rarely in that much of a rush, and if I am, I can just hail a cab. So having a bike is sort of pointless for me.

Do you often ride a bike now?

I honestly can't remember the last time I rode one, to be honest. It must have been when I lived further north and the transport options were more limited

Are bicycles popular in your country?

I couldn't say, to be honest. You certainly see more of them these days, but that's in the cities, and I'm not well versed in how things are in the countryside these days.

When was the last time you used a bicycle?

Well, like I said, it was probably when I lived in the countryside. So we're talking about three years ago. Oh, wow, that was a long time ago.

Is it difficult to learn to ride a bicycle?

I think at first it is, yeah, because, well, I mean, for example, children need stabilizers, and I was no exception in this pattern. So I think it's difficult at first, but then you get the hang of it and you can balance yourself. I don't know what the rate of progress is, but at least in my case, I don't think I was practising for more than a few months.

Yay, Rory, thank you very much for your answers! Bicycles. Dear listener, are you fond of cycling? You know this sport? Cycling, when you ride your bicycle like it's called cycling. Cycling, or biking, for example, or bicycling.

Oh, my God, that sounds so weird.

Cycling. Yeah, a bicycle, or a bike. Or you can say that I enjoy cycling. But a bike can also be like a motorbike.

It could, yes, but it would be fairly obvious from the context, which one that is.

And here we're talking about like bicycles. I remember it vividly. So if you remember something vividly, you like, you remember it very well, and you remember it clearly in a detailed way. For example, I vividly remember my first day at school.

I was cheating a little bit there, because I've been teaching one of my students about ways to describe memories, and that one popped into my head.

Sweet. You can describe your bicycle when you were a child. If you didn't have a bicycle, you can imagine your bicycle, dear listener. And you can say that, ooh, it had blue and black patterns. Patterns? Like little thingies.

Very descriptive.

Well, kind of like...

Designs, pictures.

Designs, yeah. Designs.

Regular forms and shapes. There we go, that's a pattern. There's some kind of regularity about it.

Like colours, lines. For example, it had a beautiful pattern, or it had floral pattern. If you had flowers on your bicycle, my bicycle had a floral pattern.

Did your bike have a floral pattern?

No. It was just, it was like, sky blue. A very simple bicycle. Yeah, like a cheap bicycle.

That's fine, though.

Ooh, and I didn't have a bicycle for a very long time, I used other people's bicycles. And only I think at school, maybe in like secondary school I got, like, I was given a bike.

I feel like it's a very European thing, though, to have a bike when you're a child. I imagine people in a lot of parts of the world don't have this. So it's a weird contrast.

I think it's so very popular now, like, everybody has a smartphone. Pretty much everybody has a bicycle, especially a child. Like small bicycles, I think they are very popular. Especially if you live in the country, for example.

Well, like I say, probably closer to Europe, that will be true. I'm not sure how true it is for places like South America, for example.

We have different parts of a bicycle, and we have a frame. So any bicycle has a frame. This kind of, this skeleton of your bicycle, dear listener. And maybe some word could be written on the frame. Written or, Rory, which verb did you use?

Stenciled. Ooh, is it a band nine verb?

I think so. It's a very weird verb. Stencil. To stencil? To draw or paint something using a stencil. What is a stencil?

It's like a, I suppose it's like a device that's got the forms of shapes or letters cut out of it so that they can be reproduced many times.

Wow.

I mean, you wouldn't paint things on a bike by hand. You could, but you wouldn't be able to mass-produce them.

Yeah. So you can say that, I don't know, like Maria was stencilled on the frame, or like, live your life or happy life was stencilled in gold.

How expensive is your bike?

Pretty much, if you had a word written on your bicycle, you can say, like, wow, so like, Big Shot was stencilled on the frame.

Or just words for stencilled on the frame. You don't need to remember, if you cannot remember. If you do not have a vivid memory, and you have a fuzzy memory, which is word for unclear, then you can just say there were words stencilled on the side. And there you go, you've used the band nine word.

I get around on foot these days. So I don't travel by bicycle, I don't use a bicycle, or I don't go to work by bike. I get around on foot. On foot, dear listener. By car, by bicycle, by train, but on foot. I get around? Like I go to places on foot. Or I can just hail a cab. So in the UK, they have cabs. We have taxis, they have cabs.

We could also have taxis as well.

Yeah, but a cab is like a special taxi. It's a cab.

Is it?

What's the difference between like a regular taxi and a cab?

Well, I suppose... Are you talking about black cabs?

But a cab was usually black?

Well, not necessarily. I mean, at least in my hometown, they can be any colour that you like. But there are black cabs, which I suppose is trademarked and is kind of taken as a sign of British culture.

Yeah. But if you see a cab, it's a cab. It's not a taxi.

Really? Oh, okay, I was using them interchangeably, because people talk about a taxi cab.

Oh, okay. Yeah, so I just can hail a taxi, I can take a taxi, I can go by taxi. And you can say that bicycles are pointless in my city because it's cold. There are mountains in the city.

I am lazy.

Yeah, I am lazy. I don't want to, you know, exercise.

It's pointless for me because I don't want to exercise. But I also said it's sort of pointless, which means it's kind of or quite pointless. So sort of is quite good for all sorts of reasons, because it's, it's good for your pronunciation, because you don't say, sort of, you say, sort of.

It's sort of pointless. There's no point. Like I live far from my work, so it's sort of pointless, especially in the winter. You can say I ride a bike, or I rode a bike in the past, dear listener. When I was younger, I rode a bike every day, for example.

Or it could also be perfect tense as well. Perfect aspect. I must have ridden a bike at some point in the last two years. I must have, but I can't remember.

Yeah, we're talking about the past, and probably I did this. Right? So you are pretty sure you did that, but still don't remember 100%. So you say I must have ridden one last year, or it must have been when I lived in the country. So I don't remember the last time I rode a bike. Probably it was when I lived in the country, it must have been when I lived in the country. Yay! And you can see like, transport options were limited. So I didn't have a lot of transport options. I didn't have money for a taxi. There were no buses, so I used my bicycle. I'm not well versed in how things are in the country. To be well versed. Well versed. Know a lot about something. For example, I'm well versed in modern history. I know a lot about modern history. Rory is well versed in English grammar. He can tell you everything about conditionals.

No, I cannot. I am not well versed in this. I probably could if I sat down and thought about it, but I'm not able to do it just off the cuff.

So Rory, if an examiner asks you a question and you are not sure how to answer it, so you say, I'm not well versed in how things are at the moment.

Well, there's a couple of things that we could do, and I did both of them here, I think. I said I honestly can't remember, or I said I couldn't say, to be honest, which is anchored in place by honest, but it's used in different ways to express the same point. I have no idea.

For example, what clothes are fashionable these days?

I couldn't say, to be honest. Because I'm not well versed in fashion. But if I were to guess, I would say it's like, really baggy clothes seem to be in fashion.

Yeah, baggy, like loose, like oversize. When we learn to ride a bicycle, we usually use stabilizers. Like children, I think, use them to be more stable. So the bicycle has what, 1, 2, 3, 4 wheels?

Yes.

So extra wheels are called stabilizers. And then you learn how to balance yourself on a bicycle. So you get the hang of it. Get the hang of it.

But that's just meaning to be able to do something effectively.

Yeah, C2 phrase, dear listener.

Is it?

Yeah, it is band nine.

Oh, my God, that's great.

So it's informal, get the hang of something. To learn how to do something, especially if it's not obvious or simple. So, for example, I've never used this program before, but I'll get the hang of it. I'll learn how to do it. Or, for example, I've never sailed a boat before. You know, this like boating. But I got the hang of it. So it was difficult for me to learn how to ride a bicycle, but I got the hang of it. Or you can say, like, well, it's, it's not difficult. Usually, most people get the hang of it pretty quickly. And you know, like, have you ever met people who are very bad at riding a bicycle? They kind of, they really, they're afraid or they can't do it.

I don't know. I mean, how would you know unless they told you?

Yeah, they usually say, like, oh, no, I kind of, I can't manage a bicycle. I'm not good at cycling. Or I can't ride a bicycle. And then they try, and they're so funny. They're kind...

I have never seen anyone like that before. Oh my gosh. Well, I mean, I've never really thought about it, to be honest with you.

I think it's something like you learn when you are a child. Like swimming.

Yeah. I think, I think that's normal. Although, I know that some people don't know how to swim or how to, how to ride a bike.

Yeah, true. Interesting.

But again, not everyone is like middle class and has a family that has the time to teach them these kinds of things. So that's important to be conscious of as well.

So dear listener, I think that bicycles are in fashion, so lots of people enjoy cycling, and one of the most expensive bicycles costs $16,000.

Why is it so expensive? That's crazy.

Yeah, because it's cutting edge. Okay? It's super design.

How is it cutting edge? How can a bike be cutting-edge? What does it need?

It can. Ah, it's like lightweight carbon construction.

Oh, what?

Aerodynamic design. Aerodynamics, okay?

Why is it aerodynamic? What does that mean? Why? Why? What?

Because like aerodynamic tube profiles and a flat back design significantly minimize drag. I have no idea what this means.

Under what circumstances would you possibly need a bike like that, unless you were an Olympic athlete?

Ooh, ooh, and like 12-speed wireless electronic groupset. Like you change gears. You change these speeds, dear listener, and apparently you can do it electronically. Oh, my God. This is a game-changer.

That is... Who needs that? Outside of someone in an Olympic Stadium.

Oh, sorry, sorry, it's the cheapest one.

What?

Oh, no, no, no, it's the cheapest one. I started from the, from the end. Wait, wait. Oh, my God, dear listener. Okay, okay, are you ready? Oh... $1 million. Gold extreme mountain bike. And it's gold, solid gold mountain bike. The world's single most expensive bike, $1 million. I'm not joking. It's kind of, labelbicycles.com, dear listener, take a look. This fat bike is plated entirely in 24k gold. With luxurious details. Like alligator skin, crocodile skin. Saddle. Saddle is this thing that... The seat, yeah? And jewels. Oh, my God, it's so crazy. Dear listener, can you imagine? You ride gold with jewels. Okay, now you know. Okay? Yeah.

I'm still in shock from...

Yeah, me too.

Just the late-stage capitalism going on here.

I know, I know. Yeah, but some bicycles are really expensive, and people who enjoy cycling, they kind of invest in bicycle parts. What do you call them? Bicycle parts? Yeah? Little like thingies.

Yeah, bike parts.

Bike parts. Accessories, you know? Like bike bottles, bike clothes. It's pretty much like yoga. To do yoga, you need some special, a special pillow, a special mat, clothes, you know, all this stuff. The same with cycling. Yeah. Rory doesn't have anything. Rory, do you have a bicycle now?

No. What did I do with my bike? I don't even remember.

Sweet. Thank you very much for listening! Now think, just Google gold bike. Okay? $1 million.

Just, just Google gold bike and then describe that to your examiner. I'm sure they won't have any questions about that at all.

Ooh, yeah. You can say, like, oh, actually, I have a golden... No, it's not golden, it's like made from gold.

Solid gold bike.

Solid gold bike. Or I'd like to have one, and then the examiner goes like what? Does it exist? You go like, yeah. You see?

That's right. Just shock the examiner on your way to band nine.

Yeah, actually, it's good, because the examiner will remember you and remember this crazy piece of information, and this could kind of affect your score in a positive way, deal listener.

Or just describe a regular bike. I'm sure they'll be fine.

Bye!

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