I'm On a Bike!
As promised (threatened), I now own a bike. Specifically, an electric blue Specialized Sirrus. I bought it on Saturday and promptly took it for a nice five mile jaunt. I'm pleased to report that riding a bicycle... is just like riding a bicycle (recursion alert!). Actually, it was even easier. The vast majority of my childhood bike riding was on gravel roads, so moving to nice smooth pavement made it feel like I was flying. And my part of North Dakota is the flattest place in the world, so even the comparatively level streets of Lakewood required me to tweak my gears, which I can't ever remember doing on my trusty ten speed as a boy. My knee was a little balky beforehand, but I had run 3.2 miles that morning so it's hard to pin that on the bicycling.
I also got the usual accessories - headlight and taillight, lock, pump, cages for water bottles, and a helmet. I even splurged for a kickstand. I also bought fenders, but Spin didn't have the right size in stock so they've ordered them and will get them later this week. I opted against the back rack; I have a backpack that should be perfect for riding so I'm going to try that first. If it doesn't work out, I'll consider the rack. From my perspective, the standout feature of this bike is that it is gonzo light. I realize that I could have bought much lighter (and more expensive) ones, but I can already balance this one in the palm of my hand without even trying. Ain't technology wonderful?
Some part of me wonders if I should have tried out more bikes before pulling the trigger, but ultimately onabus's advice made sense: "The best bike is the one you actually ride." If it turns out that I love it and and need to upgrade, I won't regret having purchased this one, so why worry about it?
My plan is to do some short rides this week. If the weather holds up I'll try going out to my office on Saturday, both to scout the route and to see if I'm physically up to that distance. Based on my quick five mile ride I don't anticipate any problems on the latter count, but I figure it's better to test it first. I've also got two routes to check; most people have been telling me to take Lake all the way as it has a lower amount of traffic, but one coworker advocated for the Hiliard route, saying that it is more level, has wider roads with partial bike lanes, and has better street conditions. We'll see.
So yeah, this is going to happen. In other news, my streak of "only eating food at work that I brought to work" is up to six days, and I've gotten to work before 9:30 every one of those days. I'm not sure which of those accomplishments is more amazing. Clearly, we should have run out of parking spots ages ago!
I also got the usual accessories - headlight and taillight, lock, pump, cages for water bottles, and a helmet. I even splurged for a kickstand. I also bought fenders, but Spin didn't have the right size in stock so they've ordered them and will get them later this week. I opted against the back rack; I have a backpack that should be perfect for riding so I'm going to try that first. If it doesn't work out, I'll consider the rack. From my perspective, the standout feature of this bike is that it is gonzo light. I realize that I could have bought much lighter (and more expensive) ones, but I can already balance this one in the palm of my hand without even trying. Ain't technology wonderful?
Some part of me wonders if I should have tried out more bikes before pulling the trigger, but ultimately onabus's advice made sense: "The best bike is the one you actually ride." If it turns out that I love it and and need to upgrade, I won't regret having purchased this one, so why worry about it?
My plan is to do some short rides this week. If the weather holds up I'll try going out to my office on Saturday, both to scout the route and to see if I'm physically up to that distance. Based on my quick five mile ride I don't anticipate any problems on the latter count, but I figure it's better to test it first. I've also got two routes to check; most people have been telling me to take Lake all the way as it has a lower amount of traffic, but one coworker advocated for the Hiliard route, saying that it is more level, has wider roads with partial bike lanes, and has better street conditions. We'll see.
So yeah, this is going to happen. In other news, my streak of "only eating food at work that I brought to work" is up to six days, and I've gotten to work before 9:30 every one of those days. I'm not sure which of those accomplishments is more amazing. Clearly, we should have run out of parking spots ages ago!