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.