Two wheels

[shereth]

So on the 5th I finally plunked down the money for the Specialized Crosstrail Sport. I might have considered one of the more upgraded models except A) This is my first bike* and I don't feel like burning a full week's paycheck on something I may wind up losing interest in and B) The shop only had the Sport model. In any event, it was rather late

Comments

[keeganfox]

"I'm finding that it feels quite refreshing!"
"It's strangely addicting..."

That is the essence of the bicycle. It's fun, it's fast (relatively) and it captures an aspect of life that little else does. I'm fond of saying that I ride my bike because it's fun, and the exercise is a side effect, because that's how it feels to me. Sounds like it's getting that way for you. Soon you'll be looking for half century rides to do and scheming ways to afford esoterica like something from Vanilla Cycles.
I hope that there are many, many more happy miles in your future!

[shereth]

Mentally I start out with the notion that I'm going for the workout, but I've been finding that it doesn't take too long before it's more about seeing what is around the next corner and figuring out which route looks the most interesting. I find that the clock on the computer seems to run far too fast when I'm out riding!

Thanks for the encouragement :)

[soreth]

Biking drakes! You've been doing quite well! :)

[chorca]

Hecks yes!

On road bikes, we usually average around 12-15 MPH around the city, on the trails if we're pumping it we get up to 18-20. But really on a commuter bike like that, there's no need to go really fast.

It's a sweet ride! I'd go ridin' with ya but I don't think you're anywhere close anymore :(

[shereth]

I'd be game for that - well, if I hadn't moved out of Florida, anyway :)

My immediate goal is to be able to make it from my place to work within an hour - it's about 13 miles. If I can do that comfortably then I will consider actually using it to commute from time to time, when the weather is a bit more cooperative. If this wears on me enough then I may look in to getting a proper road bike at some point down the line, when I feel up to tackling longer distances.

[keoniphoenix]

What routes do you like to take? When I was in high school, I was close enough to the CAP that I could ride that. I rode a good portion of the Northeast Phoenix and Scottsdale portion back then.

-- John O.

[shereth]

When I was a kid we would go riding up and down the CAP, but not the part that you'd be familiar with, way out on the section south of US 60 towards the Hassayampa River.

Right now I just take random routes, wandering around the neighborhoods. Nowhere specific :)

Fantastic

[kevin_h75]

Now that I'm permanent and not a temp I've been looking hard at my bicycle situation. I'm so close to work that the Wal-Mart special is fine for back and forth and abusing it works too. My road bike is fixable without too much effort, but it's also 15 years old at this point. I can't do real rides on the working thing I have. Anything more than about 20 minutes on it just is not good

Re: Fantastic

[shereth]

With as much as I've already been hitting the pavement half of me wonders if I shouldn't have gotten a road bike to begin with - but then the other half of me remembers that most of the routes I take include gravel and/or dirt paths, so what I got really is well suited to what I need :) Perhaps down the road I will splurge on a nice road bike for when I feel like eating up some miles but when and if I get around to actually commuting, again, my current bike will probably suit just fine for that purpose :)

I don't have any fantasies about competitions (yet) - but particularly triathlons. I have all the swimming prowess of a wet towel.