I got a new bike for my birthday, it's an entry level Specialized Secteur Triple 2014. I realise that won't mean anything to most people, but basically it's my first road bike. I went to Freeborn in Horsham, as recommended by Tom, and they were really helpful, spending ages going through all the gear. Not just the bike but also the pedals, shoes, pumps, shorts, tubes and CO2 canisters I needed, basically everything.
I actually got the bike a week before this ride, but I then went away for the weekend to Cardiff and was too busy with work socials during the week to take it out. So when the weekend came I was incredibly excited to finally get going.
Map of the route here.
Having pumped up the tyres and got my helmet on I headed out the gate and began a loop round by Barns Green. This is a loop I've done many times, and usually takes about 45 minutes. My main aim was to get used to clipping in and out, and changing gears on the front and back. That and enjoying the road of course.
As we live near the top of the hill the beginning section is gently rolling, providing plenty of opportunities to play with the gears without it causing too many issues when I inevitably changed the wrong way. I then turned off the road towards Barns Green. This leads down the first big hill of the day, allowing me to get down on the drops and let the world whiz by.
Coming through Barns Green was going well until I came across one particularly large pot hole, almost like a crack extending from the grass verge to half way to the midline of the road. As there was a car on my shoulder there was no way I could avoid it, and so ended up crunching through it. With the carbon front fork you feel every bump as it is and this must have been at least six feet deep.
This led pretty quickly onto the hill out of Barns Green, a consistently steep hill, but not unmanageable. The reward for reaching the top is the run down the other side. This drops off as quickly as you've just climbed, and gives one hell of an adrenaline rush. In addition as you can see well ahead and as there's only one side road you can really let the bike run. At the end is a rather tight bend, which is limited to 15 mph. Fortunately the brakes seem to work absolutely fine, as I had to shed speed rather quickly.
A quick trip onto the main road brings you back to the bottom of Bashurst Hill, ready to complete the loop. If the hill out of Barns Green is consistently steep this is far worse. It's probably a similar gradient, but rises for twice as long. I've cycled it quite a few times, but no matter how gently you try to take it your legs and lungs will be burning by the top. I got into a nice low gear, and began the climb.
The first half wasn't too bad, and there's a short false flat at that point that allows a short rest. As I began the second half I knew it was going to be hard work. As I came into view of the lane to home I went to rise out of the saddle to finish the climb and realised I couldn't. Due to the different riding position of the road bike compared to my usual Hybrid it felt really unbalanced any time I tried to stand up, and the low speed I was travelling at didn't help. Somehow I made it to the top though, and past the lane.
In total the loop had taken just under 26 minutes. As I was planning to ride for a little over an hour I set off on the loop again. Feeling a bit more comfortable I pushed it a little bit more on this loop. I continued to practice clipping in and out, and playing with the gears, as well as standing in the saddle. Despite having done the loop before I still hit the crack coming out of Barns Green. I also managed to hit just over 30 mph coming off the other side of the hill towards Christ's Hospital, which felt absolutely fantastic.
When I hit the main road I couldn't face climbing Bashurst Hill again, and so instead carried on down towards Billingshurst. After 3 miles, and far later than I was expecting to find it, I turned onto New Road. This leads onto Bashurst Hill near the turning to Barns Green, providing a nice, flat, route back to home.
Overall the bike felt great, responsive and quick with solid gear changes. The three rings provide plenty of range to cycle with, allowing me to put pressure on even at thirty miles per hour while also climbing steep hills in the saddle. Definitely looking forward to the next ride.
Distance: 18.83 miles
Time:1 hour 17 minutes 23 seconds
Speed: 14.6 mph
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