Back in the saddle (literally!)

Tonight I kicked off my personal 2007 cycling season, as the frozen Nebraska tundra is finally warm enough for regular biking. I'm beyond pleased to report this, as I've developed a serious case of cabin fever over the past several months. It's amazing how lack of excercise - and a form of excercise I absolutely love (some days..) - can really mess with your mood! So the stats are changing a bit, but are on the same lines. I've ridden several times over the past year but really nothing regular. So here goes:

Calories: 1687
Bike Miles: 13
saddle time: 82 mins
Bike total miles (Hardrock): 713.0
Weather (depart/return): 46 deg, cloudy, wet trails/32 deg, dark, wet

The ride "out" was a rather miserable 6.3 miles. The ride prior to this one I had let the tires down to 40psi for better traction on snow/ice, but at the expense of rolling resistance. See, the Hardrock has knobby 26x2.10 tires. Even at their max of 80psi they don't roll anything near "smooth" or "fast". In fact, you can usually hear me coming from the sound of the tires. Anyway, add to that the fact that I chose the wettest set of trails/sidewalk and it wasn't so much fun. It was slow, wet, and.. slow. Anyone who knows me knows that I hate slow biking.

I originally worried that the two months out of the saddle had made me lose the conditioning that I had worked so hard all summer to develop. However a hint of this problem occured when I was climbing several hills at the speed, or a little faster, than I used to. My cardio needs a bit of work, but all in due time.

When I left to head back, shock and awe occured after airing the tires up to 75psi - it rolled so much better! Such a shocking concept, I know, but oh well. Sadness was that I had bought a frame pump for this bike right before parking it for the winter, but it seems to not want to fit on the schrader valves. Greeeat.

Anyway tomorrow I'm looking forward to hopefully christening my new Trek 7.3 FX. I've wanted a road bike since shortly after I bought my Hardrock, or shortly after I learned how much more efficent road bikes are compared to mountain bikes. I had previously been under the impression that there wasn't much difference between the two, and if you wanted "tough" you wanted a MTB. Well I was wrong, and learned that about a month after buying my Hardrock. I, however, don't regret that decision one bit as that bike helped me lose 35 more pounds and has been rock-solid reliable (knock on wood!) for 700+ miles. A little adjustment here and there, and she's been good. But, I needed to get to that "next stage" and I kept reading how people found a good road bike would push them there.

The FX appealed to me due to it's mix of a road-oriented frame/fork but with a flat bar. I rode several others, in fact had my heart set on a Redline 9-2-5 singlespeed at one point, but the FX just felt right. It's been sitting anguising in the garage for the past several weeks, a victim of road tires in a state with a lot of that wet and icy stuff. Tonight I was wanting to take it but in the end was glad I didn't. The sidewalks were too mucky for it, and the part of the road I was forced to while on streets was also kinda nasty. Here's hoping conditions tomorrow are much better.

Tomorrow shall have two rides. I'll take the FX with for a lunch ride, which I will be running the route to my new house but not directly to the new house, but rather to the barber shop I frequent several blocks from it. A nice 4 mile lunch ride, and should help me get a good feel for the new bike on the route it will start daily service on next Tuesday. After work, I plan to take the Hardrock out for what will likely be it's last distance ride for a long time, route TBD.

So this shall now become my general fitness/cycling blog. Stay tuned!