Friday, January 6, 2012

6/1/12

I think to say the weather was calmer today might be the understatement of the year (so far). That meant that after a couple of hours working, and then lunch and shopping with my grandparents I had the chance to go for a ride on the new bike!

This was easier said than done given that before riding I wanted to get the computer and bottle cage attached - this, you would think, should take a matter of minutes, especially for someone that's worked in a bike shop since 2008! However, my multitool was no where to be found - this meant delving into the depths of our garage (aka "the man cave") on the hunt for an Allen key, and more importantly one of the right size! Managed to get the bottle cages bolts out and back in again with a key that was 1 mm too small!

Anyway, then I got to ride! Decided to take a different route to the previous 2 rides I've had - slightly more hilly, and a definitive loop rather than weaving away from and back to my village (which I'd been doing in case I needed to stop). I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Not only is the new bike awesome (although a few tweaks are needed to get my riding position spot on I think), my legs were feeling good for a change! That might have been down to the 12-30 cassette though (could almost run that on the mountain bike!!), I think an 11-28 might be the way to go as I think it's unlikely the 30 is going to get used round here and I felt I could have done with a harder gear, was spinning out earlier than expected downhill and even on the flat I felt it wasn't hard enough when I was trying to get some speed up!

Had 3 "near-death-experiences" with cars overtaking when they most definitely shouldn't have...if you've pulled out into the other side of the road when there's a car coming you really can't swerve into me because you've realised that you can't get past in time; likewise don't just drive along as if I'm not there - I'm sure all cyclists would like a little bit of a gap when you're overtaking!! Anyway, rant over - ride was lovely. Hopefully get out again in the next couple of days. The fact that my ears were so cold I thought they might fall off was distracting me from the fact that my arm was sore (although I still did swear under my breath every time there was a bump in the road!)

Just like to point out that I didn't ride down there (that's one for the cross bike when I get it sorted!), but being next to the road I figured it was a good photo opportunity!

Today's ride: 10.8 miles
2012 total: 20.8 miles

1 comment:

  1. Hey, you should send all your "bike and gate" photos to @j4m1eb on Twitter, he has a fantastic #bikeandgate posterous blog :o)

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