First loaded ride on Brevet bike

I did my first real ride on the Brevet machine this morning, with its likely payload. Another 16.5 pounds on the bike. (thats Marcos whole bike!) A total of 40 pounds rolling.

I commuted to work via Belmont trig, Baked beans bend and Mill Stream. I was surprised at how the extra weight caused completely different sensations in different places. I can see now how seat comfort could be an issue, where as before, even though my seat is pretty minimal, it never even looked like bothering me. I took a bit less than another 4 mins to get up the trig, and given that the track was quite damp, and it was the first time I had ridden the new freeload rack loaded, I took it pretty easy on the descent.

By the time I got to the end of Mills stream I was feeling pretty comfortable with it, and as I read somewhere else, on steep descents, where you hang off the back, you kinda feel the rack underneath you, and although you dont sit on it, it lets you control the rear of the bike a bit more directly.