Monday, August 04, 2008

Chain Reaction...

Myself and my mate Joe have been talking about buying road bikes for weeks. Since the burden of ownership of his mountain bike was relieved when a couple a scallies nicked it last week we decided it was time to bite the bullet; not literally of course although our destination (Belfast) could be the place to do it.

Belfast is a 2 hour journey from my house and we left early with the idea that we'd get to the showroom as it opens, take the bikes out for a test ride, pay for them, chuck 'em in the boot and be home for lunch. We arrived on time and took the bikes out for a test ride as planned but were given the option of a disassembled bike or the easier option of an assembled bike. Naturally we opted for the easy option and had to add 2 hours to our schedule. 2 hours was perfect for a quick jaunt into Belfast city to visit a motorcycle clothing shop that I've been dying to get to for some time.

After trying on leathers, helmets and other bike essentials we'd exhausted our 2 hours and made our way back to the bicycle shop to pick up our shiny new bikes. We stuffed them into the back of the car and eventually arrived home 5 hours late (a Starbucks stop didn't help but sometimes I can't resist).

When I got home I clicked the front wheel into place and took it out for a spin. Apart from the saddle feeling like an implement of torture the bike rode beautifully. With the Tour of Kildare 100K in less than a week I'd better find a solution to that saddle problem; the general rule is that it's good to have your problems behind you but as with all rules there is a exception...

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