OK, happy to say that I had a blast out there this morning.
Jing came around early and had a new Stealth 3 bike rack installed on his car (he bought it from Rebel Sports). The rack’s more designed for road bikes, or bikes that at least have longer top tubes but we still managed to get both bikes on AOK. Driving around with bikes “wobbling” in your rear view mirror is a little disconcerting… but something we’ll probably get used to over time.
Centennial Park was packed, as suspected but there were only a few people on the walking trail off the path and we were sure to go by them slowly as well as off their path (although one old lady did remind us we weren’t meant to be on there).
We headed for the little off road trail I always used to love blasting through as a kid and have to say it’s only a small stretch, but it’s still as awesome with a little bit of slippery sand, technical tree roots and harder packed downhill fun. I was a little scared of clipping into the pedals, especially at slow speeds and over soft sand but after a while I got really into it, jumping with them on is a breeze and a lot of fun. The Wellgo pedals themselves are shit though and I’m looking forward to getting my Crank Bros Mallet pedals and cleats.
The front suspension makes going over tree roots so easy you don’t even have to lift the front up, instead you just plow through everything. Also, single speed is great! It’s heaps of fun so long as I keep up the momentum. I also have no rear brake anymore now, initially it was wierd not having a lever on the left of the handlebars, but after a while it was fine and stopping power is fine too. And, had to mention it, Jing’s Specialized P3 is damn heavy. At 17kg’s I felt it wasn’t just heavy at the front, it was heavy everywhere. Weight makes a huge difference, for sure and I’m looking forward to lightening the Hardrock a little more.
All in all it was a fun little session. I need more training, then we’ll hit up Manly Dam.
PS: On other notes. I wonder if MWG was successful in selling the pink girl. Also, check out Ben’s new mods (pron warning).