Friday, November 28, 2014

Wide broad on a big bike

IIt's s the end of November Clanettes. Lochie turned 8 last Tuesday and he had a little cinema and pizza outing with two of his friends. He had a pizza themed cake and was generally a very happy fresh new 8 year old.

I left Cycleworld yesterday. After nearly three months I had had enough time to figure out that being the only girl isn't what I'm looking for in a job. They have been great and I have learnt so much. During my final shift I was cheeky enough to ask for a last favour and they gave me great discount on a mountain bike I have been coveting. It's actually a hard tail (front suspension, no back suspension, hence it having a 'hard tail') and a 29er to boot (29 inch wheels, aka massive). 

I was feeling massively inspired anyway, the guys at Cycleworld are mountain bikers, rather than road bikers and so I have watched a lot of amazing footage of downhill races that I just 'had' to watch (aka they put on and made me watch). But when I got my new beauty home, I realised just how inspiring she was... Is..!

Look at her stem cap! 
I'm a little bit in love with Trek as a brand. Amy, my road bike is a Trek too, and during my time at Cycleworld I had to do a number of Trek online tasks and their motto is 'ride the fastest wheel that fits' - a 29er being the biggest wheel you can get. (Yes yes cycle buffs, I know, I know, it's a general rule of thumb!)

So this morning I was super keen to get out on Xena ( yes, I have really named her Xena) and find some mud! There are two extraordinary things to that last sentence... The terms 'keen' and 'mud'.. In the same sentence!
 
I'm quite a nervous rider at the best of times, and I'm not quite sure where I got the nerve from this morning, but I took myself off to the woods and cycled a fair way a long a small track and then turned around and retraced my steps. I wasn't very fast and I didn't go very far, but I enjoyed myself. I was thrilled at the bike and myself and I haven't felt like that for quite some time.

Riding a big broad bike with rugged wheels is so massively different to teetering on a road bike and I was a little giddy at my confidence. I hate going on unmade roads on Amy, but Xena just powered through the mud and track and kept on going. Brilliant.

I am about to embark on a new chapter at Marks and Spencer's as a Christmas temp and my hours will mean that I have an hour on a Tuesday and Thursday morning to myself.. Maybe to push myself a little further on my 29er. Who knows.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Boo

Hi there. Shocked eh? I know, I'm back and I'm a bit shocked too. So much to say, so much to catch up on.

Lets just say that this blog post here and this one too have made me think about blogging again, about reconnecting and coming out of my cave to find the wi-fi.

Today I pledge to dust myself off, get back on my bike and make a change.