My friend is a paraglider pilot. She's pretty obsessed by it and flies at every opportunity. A few years ago, after many attempts, she flew 6km across country. I met her shortly afterwards, she was so very excited and beaming so broadly, she almost had a flip top head.
She wanted a bike to ride to work on. She was resistant to the idea of a bike with drop bars and skinny tyres; she bought a Live Alight 3. It's nice and comfortable, and suitable for commuting. We've been on a couple of bike rides together recently, she's struggled to match the pace made by me on my Cube Axial Ws.
This morning, we rode on a route through Gosport, called Henry Cort Way. It's the repurposed remnants of the abondoned railway line, used only by buses and cyclists. It was my first time riding it, it has a nice, smooth fast surface, and plenty of other bikes were around.
My friend wished to try my bike for the first time, so we switched. She just took off and left me for dead, passing others on the road with ease. After a couple of miles, she was on the side of the road, with that flip top head that I hadn't seen the like of for a few years, beaming ear to ear she pronounced, 'I'm getting one of these'. I didn't get it straight back either, she took off back the way we'd came. She chased down a group of young men pushing on ahead of her. I had no answer to her pace while I was riding her Liv.
Today a new cyclist was born.
