What A Machiiiiine

... with apologies to Jeremy Clarkson (it's often you'll hear that eh?).

First 15 miles on the Infinito today - first time that I've been further than the end of the next street.

Bright, crisp, breezy, main roads dry with dusty salt, some of the single tracks had a damp and slippery surface.

Whilst I read bike reviews with some enthusiasm (but not very often), I'm pretty skeptical about how much different each bike rides.  I can see how an hybrid in aluminium can be different to a road bike in steel, but would a full carbon bike really ride that much differently to an aluminium main triangle with carbon forks and seats stays?  From the same manufacturer?  Both built as sportive bikes?  Surely the differences are going to be subtle?

So why bother buying a carbon framed bike if you're skeptical?  Well, I have to admit that I appreciate the technology (even if I think my riding isn't capable of exploiting it), the Via Nirone is now 10 years old and to be very honest, I like the idea of the pleasure of owning a really nice piece of kit that very much looks the part!

I headed off in the 3 deg bright sunshine and quickly started to enjoy riding on the road again - been concentrating on the mountain biking in the Winter weather, so although we're already 6 weeks into 2013, this was my first road ride of the year.  DIY pressures meant that I only had about an hour and a wee bit to spare towards the end of the afternoon, so it was going to be short but sweet - hopefully.  First out of the box is the long steady climb up from Mold through Gwernymynydd



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and whilst I could feel the bike was a bit lighter, it didn't feel particularly special.  But then this is about 3 minutes into my ride, and it takes longer than that to get some warmth into the legs.  On the downhill towards Loggerheads I started to notice some differences - the quietness (and that's weird because the Via Nirone isn't rattly or anything), the responsiveness of the steering (without being twitchy) and I was into top gear somewhat quicker than usual.


Hitting the short sharp climb up from Loggerheads towards Cilcain,



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and I find this one a bit easier than usual - in fact, rather than just getting on with the climb, I feel the need to attack it and find that when I push harder the bike goes up the climb that bit quicker, and when I stand up in the pedals it doesn't make a small difference to forward progress, it makes a major difference.  This road is also suffering somewhat from surface crumbling which revealed another benefit - the ride is incredibly comfortable compared to aluminium, very cushy for my aging frame.  Oh, and the next climb up into Cilcain village felt much shorter than usual, and out the other side I found myself attacking the downhills aggressively too.  What fun!

So there you go.  Very happy.  Or justifying another mid-life crisis.  You choose.