Thanks, guys. I went for a twenty mile ride on the new toy today. It was interesting. In the first place, barely being to haul my carcass over a modest hill that I dance up on my road bike taught me that I need to HTFU (I'm quickly acquiring the local vocabulary, see?). Coming down is much more exciting, though. I'm beginning to figure out how to restrain* the pedals - and as Vixtor pointed out, a brake is really good for slowing down - so the hamster on acid experience is already beginning to recede. But I'm chickening out on some of the steeper sections because even though I know in my head that I can spin fast enough, there's a little voice inside me that screams "YOU CRAZY B#ST#RD, THIS BIKE IS OUT TO KILL YOU".
I'm pretty sure I'll get there. But it's interesting, as I say. I haven't had this much to learn about riding a bike since I was about 12.
* I tried to write r#tard here, because that's the word we'd use in British English. But the forum won't let me, presumably because it's a derogatory term in the US? Cultural differences are always fascinating....
Last edited by chasm54; 06-03-10 at 01:09 PM.
Reason: cultural differences