The technological march

The other day I did something rather silly. I went for a proper off-road ride with other people (not got to the silly part yet!). We had a great ride up and down the muddy trails, soaking in the views (and the summer rain that just seems to keep oncoming). All good things come to an end, and we got back to the point that we would all part company at the end of the ride, and this is where I made my mistake. While bikes were being packed into various transportation devices, while great care not to spread the liberal coating of countryside that still remained on them across the interior space was being taken, the error came. "Can I just have a quick spin on you bike".

At this point remember that I have just successfully navigated my 20 year old steel framed ride across everything they had - so somewhere in the back of my mind I thought that the difference would not be that dramatic. I had struggled to keep up on the steep and bumpys when the speed got greater, and at the bottom of the longest gravity assisted section, I will admit that there was a hint of steam cascading from the front cantilevered brake blocks.

Now I had ridden a few full suspension bikes in the last few years, but never any distance - and more the obligatory - "yes it's very light, yes it rides well, oo aren't the gears smooth" tight circles ridden to show approval of a mates new investment than any actual bike riding.

I knew that my steed was not a lightweight machine - I knew that the modern machines have surprised me when little effort is needed to free them from terraferma - but I will be honest it was even more shocking when swapping from one bike directly to another.

The bike in question was a Marin full suspension - somehow Marin had managed to squeeze a much more robust looking frame, front and rear suspension, front and rear hydraulic disc brakes and several more gears into a larger but hugely lighter machine than mine.

The riding of this machine was also a bit of a revelation (although I did not go far!). The first error I made was to pull the break lever with the same enthusiasm required to pull up the old Saracen. This resulted in me almost going directly over the handlebars as the bike stopped dead. The second realisation was that with such a large level of travel in the suspension, you really don't have to do anything to assist it over large bumps, curbs etc - just hit them and the bike will sort it out for you.

This very short experience has made me hanker for one of these technological marvels, and on closer inspection of the technology on offer, you can begin to understand why these bikes have price tags that you could buy a perfectly respectable car for! And this is my current problem - I am both nostalgic about my old school machine and love riding it - and a bit skint!

My saving grace, is the guy who I borrowed the Marin from also had a go on my steed - and in his words "how the *@!^ did you ride all of that on this thing - it's bloody terrifying".

So my new theory is, no suspension and breaks that don't really work when mud is in the equation means more fun while heading for and into and around the hills - and I shall repeat this mantra to myself over and over just as long as until I have the readies to invest in a new machine.