I have waited long enough...

 I have been a fan of Orbea Bikes for some time now I even considered buying a road bike  way back in 2019 and blogged about it. Of course in the 3 years since, bikes have come a long way. The bike I have been looking at is a gravel ebike with the emotion X35+ system

Orbea Gain M20 1X

 

Of course, not everyone is a fan of the ebike scene, and some even consider it "cheating". Well for me if I was to say to a norm, "yeah let's go out for a ride, but you only use one leg otherwise it's considered cheating", well you would probably think I was a bit bonkers. What I am trying to get at is that for people with  lower limb disabilities, an ebike can be set up in such a way that it gives you back some of that lost power and make a ride that little more pleasurable, rather than beasting yourself to keep up with your mates, not that I have too many mates. I'm quite happy just talking to myself as I tootle along and listen to the odd tune.

So getting back to the Orbea brand, I have been waiting and waiting, and then waiting some more for an Orbea Gain M20 1X which is the gravel bike variant to become available here in the UK. I had my sights set on a Silver-Grey & Black model, however there are just none available in a size Large. Then one afternoon whilst perusing the interwebs I spotted an Ice Green/ Black model. At first, I wasn't entirely sure I liked the colour combo, however the more I checked it out, the more I liked the colour. The bike was at Leisure Lakes and as far as I could see the only one available in a size Large anywhere in the UK.

I still wasn't entirely sure whether to purchase the bike, over the next few days, and kept checking it out online as I came in from work. Then following treating a few patients at work, I kind of had the thought "Ahhh what the hell it's only money, you only have one life, and you have to do what makes you happy". So I pulled the trigger when I got home and bought myself a new bike.

Why a gravel bike. Well for starters I have never owned one and as I am tending to do a lot of indoor turbo training on my road bike I thought a gravel bike would be ideal so that I could ride on the roads without the drag of my mountain bike tyres, then when I wanted to head off on some gravel/off-road trail I could do that too.

Hopefully the weather will stay fine for a while yet, and I can get out for a few rides and hopefully the fresh air and activity will help with my low mood which I have been struggling with for some time now.