Hi to all.
Now that winter is upon us I'm really not enjoying using my road bike at the moment. The bike I've got is quite sentimental to me and the thought of using it on the muddy salt ridden pot holed B roads in the dark really puts me off from using it ,as I really want to keep it looking it's best. The only option I have to keep it clean is to use the busy main roads but I hate cycling amongst traffic on dark winter nights.My cycling miles have dropped quite considerably since the clocks have gone back, and I'm proud of losing one of my four chins, and that my belly doesn't touch the cross bar any more after taking up cycling lol. I can imagine a lot of people who take up cycling during the summer months soon lose interest this time of the year and all that hard work they've put in soon goes to waste as the winter months roll by. In my man cave I almost forgot I had a fairly decent Giant MTB that is just gathering dust. I thought what a perfect solution to my conundrum. A tough MTB with big chunky tyres so that I can cycle through all the cow muck ridden hole holed roads without worry to much about punctures , traffic or getting it absolutely filthy. Agreed it's heavy and cumbersome compared to my road bike but its certainly opened up my options as to where i want to ride in the evening without the worry or aggravations of bad roads and traffic. Tonight I've just completed a 16 mile ride down some filthy lanes and the bike is covered in mud but I must admit I really enjoyed it. So hopefully this new direction in my cycling habits will keep me active during the winter months before I change back to my lovely road bike again in spring. Another strange thing that I cant explain though is that for some reason I feel much more safer on a MTB .Its obviously psychological, but I feel less vulnerable and feel that I'm more visible and that I can react quicker to dangerous situations which s great in helping me to more confidence.
Now that winter is upon us I'm really not enjoying using my road bike at the moment. The bike I've got is quite sentimental to me and the thought of using it on the muddy salt ridden pot holed B roads in the dark really puts me off from using it ,as I really want to keep it looking it's best. The only option I have to keep it clean is to use the busy main roads but I hate cycling amongst traffic on dark winter nights.My cycling miles have dropped quite considerably since the clocks have gone back, and I'm proud of losing one of my four chins, and that my belly doesn't touch the cross bar any more after taking up cycling lol. I can imagine a lot of people who take up cycling during the summer months soon lose interest this time of the year and all that hard work they've put in soon goes to waste as the winter months roll by. In my man cave I almost forgot I had a fairly decent Giant MTB that is just gathering dust. I thought what a perfect solution to my conundrum. A tough MTB with big chunky tyres so that I can cycle through all the cow muck ridden hole holed roads without worry to much about punctures , traffic or getting it absolutely filthy. Agreed it's heavy and cumbersome compared to my road bike but its certainly opened up my options as to where i want to ride in the evening without the worry or aggravations of bad roads and traffic. Tonight I've just completed a 16 mile ride down some filthy lanes and the bike is covered in mud but I must admit I really enjoyed it. So hopefully this new direction in my cycling habits will keep me active during the winter months before I change back to my lovely road bike again in spring. Another strange thing that I cant explain though is that for some reason I feel much more safer on a MTB .Its obviously psychological, but I feel less vulnerable and feel that I'm more visible and that I can react quicker to dangerous situations which s great in helping me to more confidence.
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