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…