Had to go downtown for a meeting today and decided to give my refurbished bike a spin. First impression: I can go really really fast on this bike! Since the route from West Seattle to downtown consists of about 2 miles of mostly rolling and downhill, then 3 miles of utter flatness, the ride was a breeze. The most uncomfortable part for me was actually the steep downhills. Since I still don’t have a good feel for my braking power using the drop handlebars, I have been largely riding the brakes, to the point where my arms and hands get really strained.
This was the first ride where I’ve not enjoyed the downhills so much. But the flat stretches…I don’t have a speedometer, but suspect I was going at least 15mph in places, a feat not possible for me with the mountain bike I’ve been riding for over a decade. With today’s sunny skies, I felt exhilarated.
Coming home was equally fun. Since the lowest gear is not as low as I’m used to, I opted for a less steep climb(SW Avalon to 35th SW) which allowed me to zip right up.
Perhaps my next adjustment to the bike should be changing out the chainrings for a triple, so I can have more gearing options. This would also require new derailleurs. Maybe during the Bikeworks Intermediate class in November I’ll be able to figure out what to do.