Bikes are here!

Received the bikes yesterday (18/03/03) - very exciting. Banz got the call from the postroom here at work and we rushed down to pick them up. We were worse than two kids on Christmas morning (or is that better??).

They both look really good. We'd ridden Vulcan and Snakebite in so we decided to leave them here at work and ride Spirit of Brisbane & Spirit of Stockton home. It was so weird! I do love my new bike, but I've still got a soft spot for Vulcan in that I know her so well and what she'll do (or not) depending. I really didn't feel confident in the traffic with the drops so I need to get SOB out and do a bit of practising so that I can get used to the new riding position (drops instead of straight bars). I also need to get used to the SPD pedals, so it may be a trip to the Civic Centre carpark on Sunday morning to get used to it. The response on SOB is brilliant though and you can really feel the difference heading up hills - I felt as if the bike was actually helping me rather than me having to drag it (poor old Vulcan) up Sudbury Hill. Harrow on the Hill is going to be the real test once my confidence is up.

Did I mention our new bikes look fantastic? Paul Hewitt has done a great job on them (I was disappointed to see dust on them when we got home, but there's going to be a lot more dust on them before we get back to Brisvegas. We dragged them both up to our spare bedroom to try on all the panniers that we've acquired from Vaude. They look good, but already notice the difference in weight. We have got the majority of stuff for The Big Trip, but there's all the fiddly things to get like a first aid kit and a broad brimmed hat.

We've got a trip in to town planned this weekend to coincide with our mates Ted and Carol coming down from the North-East. Apart from some museum viewing (Imperial War Museum), and some theatre-going (Arsenic and Old Lace with Stephen Tomkinson, good Boro lad and Michael Richards, better known as Kramer in Seinfeld), we'll be heading to do some bike-related shopping.

Will definitely need a curry after all that.....