20°C grey start, humid and warm.

I rode a Trek fat bike with MapMyRide+! Distance: 34.76km, time: 02:16:58, pace: 3:56min/km, speed: 15.23km/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/3037169839

The idea of tbe ride on this bike was to look for a shipwreck on Ainsdale beach. I saw it from tbe dunes last winter. As I rode, my eyes scanned the sandbanks, but nothing. Either the sands have moved or we need a neap tide to reveal it.

Nevermind my boy, it was still a good ride. Despite the front suspension, my wrists were sore. My riding losition was too upright with too much weight on my hands. On the road, the handling was odd, mainly because of the heavy tyres. Those tyres caused another effect, strange forces pushed tbrough the bars at higher speeds. Probably a gyroscope effect with those heavy flywheels spinning. Most noticeable on corners or road camber, most odd. This bike has SRAM hydralic disc brakes and they’re amazing, perhaps a little sharp, but very stong on descents.

By lunchtime, I’d reached home and wasshed the salt off with a hosepipe. To return, I took the canal. This was interesting because of the comparison with the same familiar journey on the cross bike. Although the huge tyres cushioed over bumps and troughs, the precision tracking on a cyclo-cross bike is preferable in my view.

If I were to buy a fat bike, I might skip the front suspension as unnecessary. More likely, I wouldn’t buy one at all, it’s cheaper in practice to rent one from Leisurelakes; this only cost £15 for the day. How many days would I need to rent before it’s better to buy? No longer in the market to buy, I may rent one again, but frankly, I’m in no hurry.