Greetings from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, fellow humanoids. I got my 2013 WRR in the first week of April, and...
...story time:
Last fall while on my boulevard barge exploring a coastal road, I turned onto a short dirt road which led to an expansive grassy dune by the shore.
Before I knew it, the dirt turned to sand.
I sat idling for a second, picturing how to turn a nearly 700-lb Hog around on this sandy track flanked by waist high grass. Shaking the horrible vision of dumping the barge, and even more horrible vision of trying to right the beast in deep sand -- I just planted my left heel, leaned, and twisted the throttle until I was the other way around.
Heart pounding, and happy to be out of the sh*t, I knew a change was coming. After the distraction of winter, I sold the excellent yet entirely unsuitable Fat Bob and bought a new WRR.
Paradigm shift.
I recently rode for a couple hours on a double track along a buried pipeline not far from my neighbourhood, and had more fun in two hours on the WRR than I did in two years on the barge. I was woohoo'ing out loud like a kid after ripping through thick mud, shallow marshes, and softballs without dumping. Yep. I was head's up the whole time, feeling indestructible, and impressed that my MTB skills were coming in handy. The WRR felt nimble in my hands, and seemed to do my bidding by instinct. An awesome ride, for sure.
We won't talk about the beginning of that ride though... when I tried to rip up the hillside of a gravel pit, and ended 3/4 of the way up with the bike napping on my right leg. I think that was when the bike and I first bonded. All the grunting and swearing while trying to sort myself out and ride back down... was still fun as h*ll!