Wow.
To quote a friend, it felt like someone had stuck a motor to my back wheel!
I arrived home on Tuesday, excited, after having left my new bike in the front room on my lunch break. We’d had a slight interruption since my Other Half’s car had shorted itself and broken down on the way home, but thankfully her Dad had resurrected the beast and got it home, whilst I was stuck at a Golf Club setting up seminar gear. Thank goodness for Dads.
Fitting the pedals and checking the relevant buts & bolts were all tightened up didn’t take long. Neither did fitting the front & back blinkyflashy lights, and the front headlight torch. At 8.45pm I was ready to go:
All dressed up and everywhere to go!
I set off for a quick loop to test him out. Into Milnrow the road’s pretty flat, even slightly downhill, so that part was easy. My quads burned a little so I pulled the seat up an inch: sorted.
I would never, ever, have thought about climbing Kiln Lane on my old Haro. The foolhardy part of me said “go on son, you can do it” so I turned left and went for it. Foolhardy is the word! There’s no way on God’s good Earth that I’m climbing that hill at the moment, but I did get a lot higher than I ever have before! What a bike. It felt wonderful going up that steep hill.
Along Wildhouse Lane I played with the gears, which had been set up perfectly by either Focus or the people at Wiggle. Whoever it was, thank you. A quick burst alongside Hollingworth Lake admiring the light playing along the water, before descending down to the canal and I was a happy chappy.
Back along the canalside was, erm, interesting. It was pitch black and although the new front light meant I could see ahead, I couldn’t quite pick out the half-completed surface that I’m paying for through my Sustrans subscription! Some was finished (which was lovely to ride on); some was untouched (which was ok but muddy); some was partially done (which was like riding through treacle). After a mile of alternating mud, smooth and treacle, the surface got a bit more predictable. The canal was freezing over and the sound of my new Schwalbe Racing Ralphs crunching through ice-covered puddles was music to my ears.
What a ride. I love my new bike!
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