(Friday Club Ride Selfie taken with the boys in the beautiful village of Falaj Al Sham)

There's one thing I can say for sure about road cycling....it is an expensive hobby!  

When I started riding last year, I paid what I thought was a LOT of money for my first road bike. Now, less than 12 months later I am about to buy yet another bike that will be twice the price of the first one!

Why? Well, it's simple. I want to get better, faster and stronger, and it helps to have top quality equipment. The bike I've been riding has served me very well, but its heavy.

If I want to conquer Mount Amerat in under 20 mins and improve my time trial speed, I need a lighter bike, one with a carbon frame rather than the traditional cheaper aluminium frame.

I had planned to buy a bike in Edinburgh, but then Lucky, the guy who runs Muscat's go-to bike shop http://omanbicycle.com, got in touch.

Oman Bicycle stocks Bianchi bikes - Bianchi being the world's oldest bicycle manufacturing company still in existence - they pioneered the use of equal-sized wheels with pneumatic rubber tires and also built the very first ladies bike, all the way back in 1895!

Lucky told me to have a look at their website and pick the bike I wanted and he would order it in for me. Perfect. I would save on the cost and hassle of lugging a bike back from the UK with me!

After hours of Bianchi bike research, I settled on this beauty... a Bianchi Dama Intrepida - good for racing, climbing, long rides and of course, it has that all important carbon frame. It should arrive next week and I am almost squealing with excitement! 

My next race is 13th of April and hopefully I'll have enough time in the saddle on my new bike to notice a difference. I'll tell you all about it on my next blog! 

Kathy x