never runs the tangents
I want to do a sprint tri in the spring and have clued in that the clunky ole mountain bike isn't going to cut it. I bought a road bike yesterday. I don't actually HAVE it yet because I have to go get it all fitted, adjusted, and taught how to change a tire.
The tires by the way are terrifyingly small. I have never, ever, not even once in my life ridden a road bike. I grew up in the mountains, it was 3 miles from my house to a paved road. A mountain bike made much more sense.
You know that sensation when you're on a roller coaster and its clicking up up up that big incline before the ride really starts and you're sitting there excited and nervous and thinking "my god what have I done"?
yea I feel like that
My husband is concerned that I'm going to wreck and damage the bike.
“Do what I do. Hold tight and pretend it’s a plan!” Doctor Who
You'll be fine, like anything, it's a learning process. The more you ride, the more experience and confidence you'll gain.
- Don't get too scared and jam on the brakes, slowly apply your brakes.
- Be aware of cars, give them the right of way. You never know what they'll do.
5K: 18:43 (12/13) 10K: 42:50 (12/12) HM: 1:30:10 (3/14) M: 3:34:46 (5/14)
rectumdamnnearkilledem
So...what bike are you getting?
You'll do great. When I got my first road bike I had almost no experience riding. It WAS scary at first, but it didn't take long before I found it to be very stable and pleasant to ride.
Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to
remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.
~ Sarah Kay
Ditto on what the others have said.
You'll pick up the confidence quickly.
It's amazing how well those skinny @$$ tires stick to the road.
Village people
I bought a road bike in the spring. I had many of the same thoughts. It didn't take me long to get comfortable on it, just get out ther and ride It when you get it.
The riding difference from a mountain bike is like night and day. You'll have a lot of fun once you get comfortable, soon you'll be shaking your head at anyone riding mountain tires on the street.
The "best" part is that I won't have a trailer hitch on my Escape until next Tuesday at 3:00. This means that I can't use my bike rack. I'm meeting the guy at the bike shop on Thursday to do all this adjusting and all then I'm going to have to ride home. It's not far, 5 miles maybe so I've mapped out a route so I can take roads with a bike lane to the greenway and then side roads through the neighborhood.
Its a bit like learning how to swim by falling overboard. I took a half day so I could do this while it was daylight.
It's a Giant Avail Composite 3. I did a lot of research and then picked the purple one.
kidding
sort of
Oh, if I can fit my road bike in the back of my tiny Mazda 3 with only part of the split-fold seat down, then you can surely fit it in your Escape sans-rack (we fit our tandem inside DH's Rav4 + 12 year old boy). The quick release lever on the front wheel makes it easy peasy!
The Giant Avail is a great bike. I know a TON of people on that frame!
I may try that. It would eliminate making the husband drive me back over to get my car when he gets off work and if I could pull that off then maybe I'll try braving the easy beginner no drops we promise you can do this Saturday morning group ride. I want to do that but I was a bit hesitant to bike over to then go on this group ride and then bike home. Maybe once I have more than 2 days on it but not so much yet.
I just keep remembering the time I took my wheels off the mountain bike to stuff it in a hatchback to go on a ride and forgot to reattach the brake cables. I shot off with no brakes and actually managed to pull off some rather impressive (according to the rest of the group) trick riding. I tried to play it off like oh it was all on purpose, just screwing around you know, and then when no one was looking fixed the brakes.
Haha, I love that typical male response. I can hear myself saying that to my wife.
I can squeeze two road bikes in the trunk of my little Honda civic with the front wheels removed. An Escape would feel like an 18 wheeler to me.
The pain that hurts the worse is the imagined pain. One of the most difficult arts of racing is learning to ignore the imagined pain and just live with the present pain (which is always bearable.) - Jeff
2014 Goals:
Stay healthy
Enjoy life