Hello everyone,
I've been lurking on these boards for about 2 weeks or so and decided to "uncloak". I'm going to be 55 in a few weeks and had an epiphany about a month ago. I hate exercise, I hate getting sweaty, but most of all I really hate the "couch potato"course I've set for myself.
So, (polite cough), I decided that I wanted to go back to one of my first loves; bike riding. I had bought a Raleigh (sheepish grin),"commuter" bike about 7 years ago. It worked very well as a clothes rack. Anyway, I hauled it out about 3 weeks ago and had it tuned up at the lbs and hauled my not inconsiderable bottom onto it and....LOVED IT! Since then, one of the other women at work, who is a life long cyclist has joined me on my afterwork rides and I'm loving it even more..... so much so..that she and I have signed up to ride the annual "Trek Across Maine" ride in June,2007.
She has ridden it many times before and I'm loving having a goal to work at.
Now, the next question is,of course, a new bike for me...(oh yeah....Jan needs a new bike). The Raleigh is ...um...perhaps inadaquate.
I live in Maine, so my days on the road for the next few months will be practically non-existant. But I followed one of your threads about someone finding "the one" bike from back in September of this year. So, I cruised around the net and read about the different styles/types/etc.; most of it going completely over my head.
So, today, I went back to my lbs,(after my 12 mile ride..grin), and got to talking to one of the bike geeks about a reasonable bike for the Trek. They had lots of bikes for sale and I'm going back sometime next week when the store isn't filled with kids and dads buying everything in sight. He's going to set up a few bikes for me to try.
However, he had the Trek Pilot 1.2 WSD and I got on it and it seemed to fit...now,remember, I have no idea what the heck "a fit" is supposed to feel like. I'm 5 feet 4 inches tall and have very short legs but a fairly long torso. Somehow,after he dropped the seat a few inches, I just seemed to feel like I was snugly astride this bike. Not a lot of pressure on my hands...my back wasn't arched, my butt was reasonably uncomfortable but I'm beginning to see that it's all a matter of degree when it comes to that. .
So, is this too soon to be looking at a bike like this for me?
Is this too much bike for someone who's just beginning?
Is this the wrong kind of bike for someone who is going to continue to ride on pleasure rides and tours?
And lastly; it's on sale for $750...wail,sob,wail,sob...is that a good price???

Thanks in advance to all of you who read this and
take the time to answer...I really appreciate it.

Jan (in Maine,where it's 34 degrees and I
went for a ride when it was 32 degrees!!!)