Haven't posted about my first ride on my new CX bike but I went out for a slightly longer ride few days ago to test it.
When I went in for measuring at Dolans office, I was advised to get a 56cm frame. We went through all the usual stuff and a bike was ordered. A few weeks later I still hadn't heard anything so contacted Dolan and got their sales director on the phone saying the person who had done my fit wasn't with the business anymore (uh-oh) and everyone who had looked at my details reckoned I should have been advised to get a 58cm frame.
My Cannondale was a 54cm frame so the jump up was a little alarming, and I did wonder if they had a shortage of 56cm's and were trying to fob me off a little with the 58cm, but they reassured me many of their mechanics had looked at my measurements and didn't understand why a 56cm was advised. So I tried it out and immediately it felt BIG! Not much room for the old man parts when free standing, but the reach felt ok-ish.
So the first ride went ok, but I wanted to try over 30-35 miles as that is where trouble usually kicks in when I havent got a good setup.
So off I went along the various parks through National Route 6, which was even boggier than the first time (pictured) but still gloriously quiet. A fantastic 6 or 7 miles up to Radcliffe.
Cutting across the M60 halfway over reminding me of the M25 crossover en route to Box Hill.
Just prior to arriving at Radcliffe, the river Irwell was showing at its banks some of the debris from the recent flooding that had impacted the area quite hard over December.
From Route 6 I went urban, heading round Radcliffe and Pilsworth until a fellow cyclist came alongside and chatted for a couple of minutes along Moss Hall Road. While he was fully road biked up, my heavier CX bike was getting to my legs a little on the tarmac so I made no attempt to keep to his pace, but was nice to have a friendly chat for a couple of minutes.
He did say the upcoming climb I was about to do was "nice". When a cyclist says a climb is nice, that is usually the point I reroute, but I was out so...
After shooting past my turn off and turning round, I stopped for pics, and to stop coughing (stupid cough) for a moment at the base of the hill.
So up to Ashworth Reservoir I went! A few steep bits slowly ground out, a few flats followed by some more steep bits. It seemed to go on for ages, and every time I was stopping for pics "near the top" I was finding out I wasn't actually near the top at all.
"Ice To See You" (<---------- Yeah, I went there).
By the time I got to the top, I was getting a bit chilly (my fault for stopping so much to take pictures!) and I missed the best shot coming over the top facing the reservoir itself (again due to taking so many photos, and too much Beatles music playing!).
So with depleted phone battery I continued, knowing the hills were mostly behind me.
Along the A680 I started getting quite bad neck ache, and 10 miles later quite a bit of lower back pain too. Something I never had with the Cannondale, and leaves me thinking something isnt right with the bike. It might be just a shorter stem required - my knees and legs were ok, so perhaps that means the frame itself is of an ok size....I need to speak with Dolan.
Anyway, back home muddied, a little damp and cool, but neck and lower back ache aside, I felt good to get out in 2016 and have found another route I can have some fun on.
https://www.strava.com/activities/461403476
Hope everyone had a great New Year, and have a great 2016.
)ending up in Airton near Settle. We had a 30 minute cafe stop, i bought a pork pie and a coffee. They wanted £1.30, to eat the pie outside and £2.50 to eat it in the cafe, so i said i'd eat it outside then had it inside while they weren't looking 
. Then we headed back home more or less the same way. We did 55 miles in 4 hours 2 minutes.
