back on the bike

It's been a long time coming, the antibiotics seem to be doing their job which is good. This must have been one of my longest periods of time off the bike and mentally  it was having some pretty unsettling effects, that I don't really need to be sharing, let's just say grumpy.

Getting out on the road has coincided with a week of following the Tour of California and the Continentals pre-tour of California. Both I have found extremely inspiring and I now know I never want to ride a road race but do want to ride plenty more big road miles in new places. 

Spring was definitely in the air and I could taste it on my lips, a stern but not cold wind both assisted and conspired against me on this. Hopefully this will be the first of many recovery rides from this wretched lurgy. My lungs burned but not as much as expected, phlegm seemed to pour from my snout but slowly started to dry up as I found my rhythm. Gears hopped and skipped from lack of use and some roadside tinkering soon got things back into a semblance of functionality. 

I was riding my trusty old Bontrager CX which has been built us as a Gentleman's road bike, fitted with 28c tyres which add a degree of comfort without reducing rolling resistance too much. I had never ridden with such big road tyres and the added 'float' and comfort was pretty nice. The bike itself has became so much a part of me that even having not ridden it in around a year, a dozen turns of the cranks and it was like the only bike I owned. I had forgot how stress free a steel road bike can be, the combination of super skinny stays and the fat tyres made the whole experience a pleasure. Also getting an outing today was my first experience of Chamois Butt'r, Eurostyle, it was indeed a day of comfort. I even took some photos, which gave me chance to savour the great Tay Viaduct at Logierait.

it's good to be back