Ironhorse Sonic 02 fs/ht Mountain bike (2002) – June 23rd, 2003: has clocked roughly 5500 km
Trek Equinox 5 Tri/Road bike (2007) – June 9th, 2009: has clocked roughly 350 kilometres so far
About a week ago, I went on a night ride with Jason. That was 12:30am roughly. We met up at 7-11 near Pat’s place. Jason swore he saw Pat drove by him as he rode up to meet me. Talk about destiny eh? ^_^
After some things and a lot of boyish giggling on Jason’s part, my ride home was quite nice. I took Westminster Highway east and as I took to my aerobars, I looked north and a flood of nostalgia passed through me. Though the feelings quickly faded, some memories of past times and the associated sensations still lingered until the view became blocked by a forest of trees.
The view of north Richmond, Vancouver, the lights on top of Cypress and Grouse, the cool-ish air around me, 35km/hr, the reminder of all those nights driving up and down that road thinking about Virginia, walking up and down that road in the rain with Tom, the times Carlo, Jacek, Tom, Roger, Jon and I walked around the Lansdowne area, some of us high, some of us drunk, me completely sober, to see how the city changed before my eyes from my childhood to my adult years – all these things… This is my city.
One consistent interest that I’ve had since the fall of Loud Productions is my road and mountain biking. Prior to Sonic 02, I had a beat up Sears bike that belonged to my brother. It was made of heavy aluminum with steel parts and a bit too big for me. I never realized sizes until I researched for a new bike in early 2003. I rode that bike from 2001 to 2003 and glad I replaced it with the Ironhorse.
For years, since 2003, I would still to this day, look at my Ironhorse Sonic 02 lovingly and it would remind me of my days riding around with Patrick and sometimes with Carlo. I did roughly 5500 kilometres with Sonic 02. If you’re wondering how I calculated that mileage, I did it by measuring the distance of routes through Google Earth. It was in early 2008 that I got the Cat’s Eye cycling computer and that clocked roughly 800 kilometres in one year.
In 2007, I was looking into road bikes, cyclocross and tri/tt bikes. I wanted to aim for a Cervelo Soloist but could not afford the $2400 bike. So I tried saving and then earlier this year, Jonathan invited me to his destination wedding which I cannot miss but it will cost me roughly $1500 to $2000. I’ll lean towards the higher cost. So there goes my dream bike. Alas, all was not lost. I managed to work more and finally got a bike that fit my budget and still go to Jon’s wedding to Martine early next year sometime.
At first, riding the E5 took some courage. I did all the fitting and adjustments myself and I have to confess: in the beginning I thought I bought the wrong bike and size but after adjusting it and riding it some more, I pretty much fell in love with E5. Sure, it’s an older model and it needs some tuning still, but it’s a nice ride.
On Sonic 02, I rode on average of 25km/hr on a flat road. On E5, I rode on average of 33km/hr on a flat road. With head-wind, the average for Sonic 02 was 18km/hr. For E5, it’s 27km/hr. Tail wind for Sonic 02 was 36km/hr and the E5 was 43km/hr.
Cross-Canada, here I come!
