I picked up my lovely new Bianchi on Friday night. She is every bit as lovely as I’d hoped. She was a bit mistreated getting her home, as the weather had broken and a large quantity of water decended from the sky, making the roads just that much more interesting on slick tyres. A quick wipe down to get the slight mud spatter off, and she looked as lovely as ever.
It was in the high thirties in Melbourne this weekend, so I wasn’t sure that I’d be up early enough to get a good ride in before the heat became too much. Saturday morning was spent putting the polar sensors on and adjusting seat height and other minor tweaks. The sweat was flowing freely after a couple of tiny test laps around my local streets. I was all set for Sunday, however, so I hoped things would cool down overnight, at least enough to get a few early hours in.
Happily, a small change came through and the temperature was quite pleasant around 7am. Audrey and I headed down to Beach Rd and joined a bunch ride into St. Kilda. After an hour, you could feel the heat building, the sun reflecting off the tarmac to slowly roast us. All told we covered a 60km loop and were back at Audrey’s by around 9:30am. It was a great ride, but I pity the poor riders who were doing the Audax that day. With the mercury tipped to pass 40 degrees and several hard hills to climb, I doubt I would have been able to make it.
I think it’s pretty safe to say that I’m hooked, now. I look forward to covering a few thousand kilometres with my gorgeous new Italian babe.