The 'ol switcheroo doesn't work well

[ragbrai40]

I had an interesting experience last night. I took my road bike to the LBS for a quick checkover before RAGBRAI next week and picked up my old Cdale hybrid that gotten a major tune up. Well, since the road bike was in the shop and I needed to ride I figured doing a short 20 miles on the Cdale would be a breeze. Maybe a harder ride than usual, but figured it couldn't be too bad.

Oh how wrong I was! I hadn't been on the bike in over a year, the seat was out of wack and uncomfortable, the upright position was awkward not to mention the pedal cages that were an unfamiliar feeling after being to used to being clipped in.

I was riding with my husband where usually I'm in front and he's behind (this is his first season of riding) but the roles were reversed. I dropped so far behind that at some points I lost sight of him! This was very frustrating as I usually average 18 - 20 mph on the road bike and with the headwind I could only manage 13 mph. GRRRRR I didn't want to push it and hurt myself as the the BIG RIDE is next week, so I just found a comfortable gear and spun away, slowly but surely.

One high point of the ride was getting up a fairly good sized hill in the middle ring. When I started out I thought for sure I'd be in granny gear, but once I got warmed up and feeling a bit more comfortable with the bike, it wasn't so bad.

The moral of this story is that if you want to ride and be comfortable and happy doing it, take your bike in for a tune up when you're going to be out of town and can't ride, not when you want to be riding!

[JanT]

Now that I have a real road bike, my "good" hardtail seems heavy, and my commuter hard tail feels like a tank! So I hear what you're saying about switching to a hybrid. The positive thing about riding my heavy commuter, panniers loaded, is that the next ride on either of the other bikes is a breeze. You'll really enjoy your bike when you get it back from the shop.

[ragbrai40]

You'll really enjoy your bike when you get it back from the shop

Yah, I figure if I ride "the tank" for a few days then when I get on my road bike for RAGBRAI, it'll feel like I'm floating through the 500 miles!

[fasteryet]

I've got the same situation. Sometimes we ride a towpath for a long day of eating and drinking (32 miles round trip, one brewpub, one restaurant, one tavern), and I ride my hybrid. Or I ride it every other week or so with a certain friend who is actually one of the few who is slower than me. But it always seems so heavy at first, until I really get warmed up. Then I remember how much I like that bike and how much fun it can be. It's just not a jet like the road bike. And it probably is good for training - it's like losing weight the easy way.