By Jack Hawkins http://jackonabike.ca/
It’s great, you know, to get back in the saddle and start riding
again - after months of seemingly endless bitter cold and several
feet of snow on the ground.
Recently, I have been able to do just that, and my-oh-my, has it felt great! My first ride was on Friday, April 11th, and I followed that small, seven mile journey with another, eighteen miler, the very next day.
My new saddle, a
Selle Anatomica Titanico X touring saddle (see picture below) is
performing well, although it will certainly take some getting used
to. Particularly the rough edges on the sides. I’ve also graciously
been given a Merino Wool jersey from Bobolink
Gear to review
for them on my rides both this year, and next. But more about that
coming in the future.
Since my inaugural rides on Friday and Saturday, I’ve been doing
some research on where I could possibly go for an overnight trip.
There are several that spring to mind, the first is Kouchibouguac
National
Park,
My route for the Kouchibouguac trip, mapped with Strava,
can be found here.
I’ll be reviewing different route mapping applications (Strava,
MapMyRide,etc) in a later article, but for now, below are the route
maps of my first rides of the year.
And damn! They felt great! My first real test will be that 25-miler
to Kouchibouguac, and beyond that - who knows, an overnight trip to
Moncton? Miramichi? I’ll also be trying out some new (to me),
camping equipment and seeing how that performs.
We have also had such a cool and lae spring (Central Virginia, USA)that I haven't been able to ride much, and we've had pouring rain all week. I have taken my new Trek Domaine out for a couple moderate (35 miles) rides for a little break in and it felt good again. The bike is new and replaced a 2006 Lemond Crux de fer that sustained frame damage and had to be replaced, so I am comparing the bikes. I have no complaints about the new Trek but ride feel is subjective and I can get a better comparison after aI do some all day rides and weekend bike road trips. My initial impression so far is that the LeMond, with its alloy steel frame, had a better ride than the Trek with the aluminum frame. It enjoys getting out on some adventures this summer and is eager to get out and play, and I promised him we would. I know people who ride in the worst cold weather but I can't , and I don't have the proper rain gear for riding in rain and don't like to due to reduced visibility and don't feel it is safe on narrow country roads where I live.
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