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I took a ride on this great piece of Italian artistry and began to see the beauty in the efficiency and the speed it offered. I began to push a little harder on the pedals and shift through the gears and quickly found myself enjoying the burn in my legs as I sprinted for the nearest telegraph pole followed by a raising of my arms, imagining I had just beaten Mark Cavendish along the Champs Eleysees.
From that moment on, I was hooked. However, those earlier days were paved with embarrassment as I found myself riding in a cheap and nasty pair of lycra shorts that offered as much in the way of a chamois as my old football shorts did. This, coupled with an old Adidas T-shirt with a blue lycra undershirt… I certainly didn't look the part. Nor did I ride the part, on my first ride out, I stumbled off a borrowed bicycle only to cling onto a gate to break my fall as I tumbled towards the ground. Then there was the elation of completing my first 100 mile Sportive, the immensely popular Boudicca ride, where once again I lost my balance and toppled off my bike - at least this time it was post ride!!
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