The two mile ride two weeks ago didn't count as my first ride, for obvious reasons...but all that has changed

I have to sing the praises of the gearing on my LHT! No, I am not shifting yet - the shifters are a LONG way from the hoods, down by my knees. Literally. This is daunting but I know that I will learn how to do this.

Today I focused on having fun, and practiced moving my hands to different positions on top of the bars without getting wobbly. So I picked a middle gear on both chains and just left it there. Remember my rear cassette is 11-34T, with a crankset of 48-36-26t.

Please note that I was far from the granny gear - that is important. I must compare this with my Trek 7.6. In the park where I was today there are short, steep hills in the park that I can barely get up and at 3 mph at that. How did Sully do? Straight up the same hill(s) at almost 10mph - and this was without shifting. At all. And I lost momentum cornering before starting the climb.

It cut through corners just as stable and smooth as possible, and easier to go around things on the road as well - better than my Trek even. I think that I am going to like climbing with this bike! Even cornering seemed more stable/comfortable on the LHT than on my Trek that I have 140 miles on...

Perhaps there isn't a surprise in how differently the two bikes perform - one is meant to be able to go fully loaded up a mountain and the other isn't, but still - while I still love my Trek, the Surly is special! Plus he weighs less than Stella, but let's not let her know that

It is pure love with this bike - outside of the shifters However I can't even say that yet since I can't blame the bike for my not being able to move my hands that far as of yet. My hands did get a little sore, but that stopped as soon as I got off the bike, not the sheer agony of two weeks ago...