I like Skol
A Minging Manc...
- Location
- Sunny Ashton-under-Lyne
Just got home from using my new bike in anger for the first time. I bought it exactly 2 weeks ago today and other than a shakedown ride in city centre Manchester yesterday morning (Rememberance Sunday) with my nearly 8yr old son I haven't been able to ride it due to illness, family/work commitments and weather.
Tonight I rode it to the pub! Admittedly, the pub in question is the Grouse at the top of Chunal above Glossop and home is Ashton-under-Lyne, so a distance of 9 miles each way and a substantial increase in altitude on the way there to attend my 4x4 off-road club monthly meeting. I am chuffed to bits with the new bike and found my decision to swap the cassette from an OE 11-32 to a 12-26 to be the right choice. The gear ratios are real close to each other (so much so that there were a few "bloody hell, that's just the same as the gear I came from" moments) but coming from a typical MTB do-it-all cassette I expected it to be a bit of a shock anyway! Anyone that knows the roads around here will appreciate the climbing involved. The ride up Mottram road from Stalybridge to Mottram cutting was fine as expected but I am ashamed to admit that climbing Chunal resulted in me dropping onto the granny ring (although in my defence, I have never claimed to be the fittest rider around and had just consumed an evening family meal AND I am still recovering from the tail end of a snotty cold so currently go everywhere with a pocket full of tissues).
A few pints later and it's home time and raining but so what! i didn't mind the rain one bit. Whizzing down Chunal I am amazed at the beam given off by my £10 set of Reebok branded lights bought off Ebay (THESE) and glad I didn't splash the £30-40 I was going to spend on a set of cateyes. I am also really pleased with the £20 hi-viz fleece I bought from Screwfix today (THIS). I returned a £50+ endura Gridlock breathable waterproof to CRC as I was really disapointed by the effectiveness of the reflective piping and having ridden in the rain tonight i reckon I don't actually need waterproofs as I don't intend to ride to work if it is really chucking it down anyway. Just a word of warning, the Screwfix fleeces are HUGE. I bought the large and it is big but I didn't want to risk the medium incase the sleeves turned out to be too short. Normally i am bordering on extra large but that would be like a tent if the large size is anything to go by.
I stopped off for last orders at Blue Ginger in Stalybridge on the way home (Prawn foo-yung with fried rice, I deserved it!) and it was the perfect end to the maiden proper ride of my new commuter hack (A 2010 GT Traffic 1.0 if you are wondering)
Tonight I rode it to the pub! Admittedly, the pub in question is the Grouse at the top of Chunal above Glossop and home is Ashton-under-Lyne, so a distance of 9 miles each way and a substantial increase in altitude on the way there to attend my 4x4 off-road club monthly meeting. I am chuffed to bits with the new bike and found my decision to swap the cassette from an OE 11-32 to a 12-26 to be the right choice. The gear ratios are real close to each other (so much so that there were a few "bloody hell, that's just the same as the gear I came from" moments) but coming from a typical MTB do-it-all cassette I expected it to be a bit of a shock anyway! Anyone that knows the roads around here will appreciate the climbing involved. The ride up Mottram road from Stalybridge to Mottram cutting was fine as expected but I am ashamed to admit that climbing Chunal resulted in me dropping onto the granny ring (although in my defence, I have never claimed to be the fittest rider around and had just consumed an evening family meal AND I am still recovering from the tail end of a snotty cold so currently go everywhere with a pocket full of tissues).
A few pints later and it's home time and raining but so what! i didn't mind the rain one bit. Whizzing down Chunal I am amazed at the beam given off by my £10 set of Reebok branded lights bought off Ebay (THESE) and glad I didn't splash the £30-40 I was going to spend on a set of cateyes. I am also really pleased with the £20 hi-viz fleece I bought from Screwfix today (THIS). I returned a £50+ endura Gridlock breathable waterproof to CRC as I was really disapointed by the effectiveness of the reflective piping and having ridden in the rain tonight i reckon I don't actually need waterproofs as I don't intend to ride to work if it is really chucking it down anyway. Just a word of warning, the Screwfix fleeces are HUGE. I bought the large and it is big but I didn't want to risk the medium incase the sleeves turned out to be too short. Normally i am bordering on extra large but that would be like a tent if the large size is anything to go by.
I stopped off for last orders at Blue Ginger in Stalybridge on the way home (Prawn foo-yung with fried rice, I deserved it!) and it was the perfect end to the maiden proper ride of my new commuter hack (A 2010 GT Traffic 1.0 if you are wondering)
