New Bike + Tahoe Ride = :)
Well, I finally took the plunge and got myself a road bike - no need for photos (I'm not that technologically savvy anway), as I'm sure you've seen enough of these already - it's the Specialized Ruby Expert Triple. As you know, it's the end of the season for '07's and our LBS recently had another 12% off sale. Still, quite a chunk of change for my first road bike - yikes! Had a few things swapped out already - narrower saddle (the 130 Specialized Jett - took it on my Italy tour and LOVE it), narrower handlebars (38's), shorter stem (put on the 80mm Ritchey adjustable that I bought for my tour) . . . that's it for now. They're still trying to find a 74mm bolt circle diameter small chainring in a 26 tooth size . . . for now I'll stick with the 12-27 cassette, but may go to a 13-29 . . . we'll see . . .
Anyway, I had the professional bike fitting at one LBS (paid $$$ for it) and bought the bike at another, since LBS #1 doesn't sell Specialized. I went ahead and bought my pedals and shoes from LBS #1 since I was so pleased with their customer service - I ended up with Shimano Ultegra SPD-SL 6620's (full price, 'cause they're the newest model) and Sidi Genius 4's (on clearance). What a difference from my PI mountain bike shoes (I had 36's - the smallest size - and they slipped in the heel - the Sidi's are 38's and fit like a glove) and Shimano mountain bike pedals. I love the wider base of the road pedals.
To celebrate, I went up to ride in Tahoe with some new road bike friends. The hardcore cyclists did a crazy Donner Pass/Cisco Grove ride (over 70 miles of cycling with over 6,000 feet of climbing - this was an "easy" ride for them, as they are used to doing the Mt. Rose ride from Northstar - 70 miles with over 9500 feet of climbing in less than 5 hours - HA!), while I and another "C Group" gal did a shorter ride to Squaw Valley and back (both groups started from Northstar). This amounted to about 44 miles and I would guess around 2600 feet of climbing (routeslip says 2400 feet for the 38.5 miles of the pre-planned route, but we ended up at about 44 miles when all was said and done due to a backtrack when we thought we were lost getting from Truckee to Highway 89 and adding on a short jaunt to the Village at Squaw Creek for water and a rest!).
Anyway, can I just tell you what a difference a well-fitting carbon-fiber bike with lovely components makes? I felt like I was FLYING! And this is after being quite ill all week. Averaged over 16 mph overall - on my old bike I had to STRUGGLE to get it up to 14 mph, let alone averaging that amount! Probably could have averaged more, but I brake a lot on descents and I was going a measly 7mph toward the end of the ride (thought for sure something was wrong with the bike, but no, it was just me!).
Now to get rid of that hunk of junk I've been riding! A good beginner/leisure rider's bike, but it doesn't fit me AT ALL and caused me lots of pain and grief. http://www.airfreetires.com/Specs/St...1000&Year=1997
