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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