It's ON!

The first angry ride on the Ghost took shape in the form of a prolonged hammer session out to Belcarra,

doubling back to Deep Cove, then rolling through the slopes of Lynn Valley.  All in, 125km and just over 2,000m of climbing.  How did the Ghost react to multiple locomotive-like efforts at 400w?  In a word, absolutely flawlessly!  In all honesty, sliding into the cockpit of the Ghost was like putting on an old pair of gloves - everything fit, even the ProLogo Zero2 saddle was comfortable over the 4 hours pain that was being dished out on a repeated basis.  Climbing?  Gotcha covered.  Out of the saddle efforts yielded immediate acceleration, no energy robbing flex at the bottom bracket or chainstays - stomp on the pedals and you are rewarded with instant acceleration!  Just the thing I needed keeping up to Saturday's musclemen (Yes, you, JI).  

So, climbing is spot on, but what about the descents, do the muscular fork legs, the beefy downtube and overbuilt bottom bracket area all combine to form a delicious recipe of stiffness and sure footed-ness as speeds increase? YEP!  Once the rollers of Belcarra are conquered, riders are faced with a long, winding descent, exactly the conditions required to test the new rig's stability.  Railing the big Ghost through corners was inspiring - the only thing holding me back was a lingering thought of self-assembly - are you SURE you tightened that stem bolt? - Apart from a moment's (mental) hesitation, the bike behaved as it should, rock solid as speed tickled 80km/h in the short descent back to Newport Village. Similarly, scrubbing off speed on the beautiful Easton EC90SL was smooth, easily modulated, without any drama (or squealing brakes) whatsoever.   Perfect.

So, a new missile to the arsenal. Bring on the Tuesday Nighters (said with all due respect).