Trying out the new bike

While I was in the field I received a message from the bicycle repair man; Kate's bike was finished. So after the fieldtrip I retrieved it. I barely recognised it! It looked so clean and shiny. And I looked forward to trying it out. But that was not going to happen that evening. And I also realised the brakes weren't actually braking; I would have to sort that out first.

The next day I sorted the brakes, and in the afternoon took it into the hills. I spent the first several hundred metres adjusting the seat height. And getting used to the gears. And as soon as I went off the road I realised it didn't actually have a lot more suspension than with the old bike. But that's okay! This one has emotional value.

I had decided I was going to combine the trying of the bicycle with another mission; I wanted to scout out Twll Pant Hiriol, the strange dent in the hill I had seen many thanks for the distance, and about which the historian who has done the last guided walk I had been on had been telling. It sounded like a place I wanted to pitch my tent in one of these days; but I wanted to make sure there was water there. The historian has said there was, but this was a dry spell!

I did the first part of my normal bike route, and I didn't spend more time on the bike than normal. And then I continued to the leat that signalled I would have to turn left. During that stretch I had a realisation. I had felt some strange motion in the bike. First I thought that maybe I hadn't fixed the front wheel properly, and it was about to fall out of the frame. Then I wondered if I was getting a puncture. But then it suddenly dawned on me: this was the suspension! There wasn't much of it, but I was convinced that that was that strange motion was. Cool! 

The leat came with a little path that wasn't very bike-friendly. I got distracted and ended up on the top of Llefn, but then retraced my steps as that meant I had overshot Twll Pant Hiriol. And when I got to it I was surprised to see how big it was. It really didn't struggle to contain a big roundhouse! But that day, there was no water. So it wasn't a good location for me and my tent. 

From there I biked down the hill. That was still quite challenging for me. Until I got to the big path; from there I zipped back home. First ride done! And on the way back I realised the saddle was a bit too low, and I could feel it in my knees. I now understand why people like Kate and Martin have saddles they can just lower and raise with the press of a button. You want it low when you are going down a bumpy bit, but you want it at normal height when you reach the roads and you're just cruising home. And ideally, you don't want to have to get off your bike to make these changes.

This will now be my standard bike! For in the hills, that is. It hasn't made me a better mountain biker, but I'm sure I'll have a lot of fun with it!

Bike by leat

Twll Pant Hiriol

View over Anglesey from roundhouse