{"id":204,"date":"2010-02-04T14:17:47","date_gmt":"2010-02-04T14:17:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.phillconnell.com\/blog\/?p=204"},"modified":"2017-01-12T04:40:38","modified_gmt":"2017-01-12T04:40:38","slug":"first-fat-boy-ride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.phillconnell.com\/blog\/first-fat-boy-ride\/","title":{"rendered":"First Fat Boy Ride<\/b>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wow.<\/h2>\n

To quote a friend, it felt like someone had stuck a motor to my back wheel!<\/p>\n

I arrived home on Tuesday, excited, after having left my new bike in the front room on my lunch break.\u00a0 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\u00a0a Golf Club setting up seminar gear.\u00a0 Thank goodness for Dads.<\/p>\n

Fitting the pedals and checking the relevant buts & bolts were all tightened up didn’t take long.\u00a0 Neither did fitting the front & back blinkyflashy lights, and the front headlight torch.\u00a0 At 8.45pm I was ready to go:<\/p>\n

\"All

All dressed up and everywhere to go!<\/p><\/div>\n

I set off for a quick loop to test him out.\u00a0 Into Milnrow the\u00a0 road’s pretty\u00a0flat, even slightly downhill, so that part was easy.\u00a0 My quads burned a little so I pulled the seat up an inch: sorted.<\/p>\n

I would never, ever, have thought about climbing Kiln Lane on my old Haro.\u00a0 The foolhardy part of me said “go on son, you can do it<\/em>” so I turned left and went for it.\u00a0 Foolhardy is the word!\u00a0 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!\u00a0 What a bike.\u00a0 It felt wonderful going up that steep hill.<\/p>\n

Along Wildhouse Lane I played with the gears, which had been set up perfectly by either Focus or the people at Wiggle.\u00a0 Whoever it was, thank you.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Back along the canalside was, erm, interesting.\u00a0 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<\/a> subscription!\u00a0 Some was finished (which was lovely to ride on<\/em>); some was untouched (which was ok but muddy<\/em>); some was partially done (which was like riding through treacle<\/em>).\u00a0 After a mile of alternating mud, smooth and treacle, the surface got a bit more predictable.\u00a0 The canal was freezing over and the sound of my new Schwalbe Racing Ralphs crunching through ice-covered puddles was music to my ears.<\/p>\n

What a ride.\u00a0 I love<\/em><\/strong> my new bike!
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