New Bike!!!

[Lynne]

Just got back and showered from the ride. A bit over 46 miles, didn't have my computer hooked up, but the BF did and he did 16.4mph average (he did a few sprints as he's training for racing), so I figure I came in a bit under 16mph, which beats my best time so far by a little bit I think. And did I mention there was a painful hill almost at the end that's about a mile long? I started off a bit slow, getting used to the bike. But, late in the ride, after I came up the hill, my BF was at the top...apparently another woman had just gone by and I could just see her. He says "You going to catch up to her??" Of course, I had to...I have the better bike and how shameful if I couldn't even catch her BTW, that was some more uphill, just not a *hill*...so I caught her, passed her and kept going up up up.

I'm mostly sore (I'm going to hit the hot tub tonight), but not tired like I was on the previous similiar ride, (which was less steep at the end) which was only a few weeks ago.

No, I didn't quite live up to my bike's expectations of me, but I'll keep trying. My goal is 17mph average on a longer ride like this one with hills.

I'm seriously hoping I continue to improve at the rate I have...that the next 6 mos will show tremendous increases in my ability. We'll see.

Oh, and I'd love to post a picture...how do you do that here?

Oh, and hey, post away! No one's stealing my thunder...I'm so happy just to have this beautiful bike...I'm sure everyone else feels the same when they get a new bike. I'm happy to share the thread.

Oh, and Surlgirl...my BF is doing exactly what you doing...upgrading from his Surly. (his is a road bike, steel frame...heavy as an elephant...omg!!) He's getting a super nice light bike now, but will keep the Surly and do what you're doing with yours. He has such loyalty to that lovely blue bike...it's kind of sweet :-)

[Lynne]

I forgot to ask...Surlygirl, which component set did you get?

[Crankin]

Congrats Jody!! (Surly). Now we definitely have to ride together. You will probably be going faster than me. Let me know when it comes in and we can meet....

[Biking Chick]

No, I didn't quite live up to my bike's expectations of me, but I'll keep trying. My goal is 17mph average on a longer ride like this one with hills.

I'm seriously hoping I continue to improve at the rate I have...that the next 6 mos will show tremendous increases in my ability. We'll see.

Good Morning Lynne - Glad to hear you had such a great first ride on your new bike.

I can relate to your feeling of not quite living up to the bike's potential. My husband surprised me a year and a half ago with my carbon road bike for my 50th birthday and it didn't take long for me to realize that my new bike was in a totally different category than my 2200 (all tho I still have a lot of affection for that little yellow & blue bike ... she helped make me a roadie).

I can't begin to tell you how a committment to weights (upper body) 3 days a week and a half hour of aerobics/stretching/toning 5 days a week has made in my cycling. The weight training has paid off in the obvious areas of being able to support myself on the bike on long rides but I was surprised at the aerobics. I thought about re-joining our local 'Y' but decided I'd start out with Daily Workout with Denise Austin - didn't have to go anywhere and it certainly was cheaper. That was a year ago and I'm still working with Denise. I'm not very good doing something like this by myself and I get bored with the workout tapes/DVD's - and I've discovered that a number of the exercises friends told me to try cuz they worked for them never seemed to work for me. Surprise surprise ... I now know I was doing them incorrectly. From some of the yoga moves I've learned from the show I now know how to open up my chest ... something I incorporate while biking ... and the value of not hunching up my shoulders (something I apparently did quite often) while riding. I learned the value of stretching following exercise as it increases circulation and circulation is what heals your body. I finally have a non-flabby derriere which really helps on the hills or in a headwind when I need to get down on the drops. I'm finally doing crunchs correctly and am pretty darn proud of being able to tuck a shirt into a pair of slacks but the real benefit comes back when I bike. A toned core really does make a difference.

Enough yakking on my part ... I was just thinking how my 2200 helped make me a roadie but my 5200 (carbon) made me want to be and do that much more. Looks like both road bikes deserve some thanks!

[Surlygirl]

Great Job Lynne,
I concur with your hubby. The old Surly is heavy as a tank but its done well by me and I like to think I'm a stronger rider (or slower) having ridden it.
I'm glad you like your new bike. I too feel like I probably won't quite live up to my bike's expectations but it will be fun trying won't it.
I have a Ultegra triple with FSA 48-38-28 rings on my Surly now and I may just swap those over and put the 105 setup back on my Surly. The bike I tried had a FSA compact crank on it but I ride a lot of hills in the town I live so I think I would miss my granny. I'm also putting a new women's Specialized Dolce short reach handlebar on the Orbea and an extra set of brake levers on the tops. I sure did miss those when I test rode the other night.
Of course the big decision now is what color bar tape and of course I need a few purple outfits don't you think

[emily_in_nc]

The bike I tried had a FSA compact crank on it but I ride a lot of hills in the town I live so I think I would miss my granny.

Surly ~ I built my Aegis Swift with an FSA compact double 34-50 and put a Campy Chorus 13-29 cogset on the back. The low gear is as low as my Terry (which sports an Ultegra 30-42-52 in front and 12-27 in back), though I do lose a couple gears off the high end, but I haven't missed them (I don't mind coasting down a big descent, and I don't race). The compact double is lighter and shifts much cleaner in front than a triple. Just a datapoint to consider!

~Emily

[Lynne]

Of course the big decision now is what color bar tape and of course I need a few purple outfits don't you think

OMG! EXACTLY! that's exactly what I said as soon as I got the bike!! We are so on the same wavelength! Since mine was a 2004, it's been test ridden to death and the white tape is all dirty. So I need to get new tape...I'm thinking deep blue. And I have to get cute little outfits to match the bike. I love that part of biking!

Well, the link to see my bike is here:

[spazzdog]

ooooooo! very pretty!!

I'd go with the pink (or is it red) for bar tape... for the "bring it all together" look. I've also seen some pretty cool multi-colored speckeled bar tape that would be really nice. White gets cruddy pretty quick.

congrats on the new baby!

spazz

[emily_in_nc]

Beautiful bike, Lynne! And red/white/blue is so easy to match in clothing and accessories too! I'd go with red bar tape for a bit of snazz...it's the accent color for the bike so would be purty. Terry makes their t-shorts in that pretty blue color too - check 'em out here.

The possibilities are endless, except maybe pink!

Enjoy!

Emily

[Surlygirl]

Karen you kill, me. I'm still laughing. Thanks for the link to the bar tape. Now I have to decide purple or one of the mixes. Decisions, decisions.
Hey Lynne, check out the link Massbikebabe sent me, maybe you can find what you need too. Sweet bike by the way. I had a fuji about 20 years ago that hubby bought me and it still hangs in by basement. Sentimental value ya know.

So Emily, if someone were to dangle a pretty pink Orbea in front of you, would you consider riding again. Might be just what you need to lift your spirits. Dogs be damned.
Thanks for the input on the components, I guess I hadn't considered that and I certainly don't race or fly like the wind down hills, at least not on purpose. To many rough roads here to do that.

[emily_in_nc]

Oh, and I'd love to post a picture...how do you do that here?

Hi Lynne ~

First, you need to have your picture up on the web somewhere. I'm not sure what ISP you use, but most ISPs provide space for their users, or there are free areas you can post pictures (I use my ISP's web space and upload my pictures to my space there). Once your picture is on the web, you can either just post the link in your post, or to include the picture inline, click the little mountain picture above the text block as you're composing a post to insert an [IMG] tag, put the URL of your image in, and then click the mountain again to insert an [/IMG] (end image) tag. You can also put the tags in manually.

So, the code would look something like this (substituting square brackets for the parentheses I used for demonstration:

(IMG)http://home.mebtel.net/~emilys7/day5_bear_em_bikes.JPG(/IMG)

We will then see the image in your post. Does that make any sense?

If that's too complicated, you can always just put a link to the bike manufacturer's page with the bike's picture instead!

~Emily

[DeniseGoldberg]

...Oh, and I'd love to post a picture...how do you do that here?

Lynne -
I usually use the method that Emily noted in her post - but if you don't have a place on the web to stash pictures, you can also upload pics directly. When you are editing a post, if you look below the edit box, there is an "additional options" section. If you click "manage attachments" you should be able to point to an image on your machine and then click upload.

Oh, and congrats on the new bike. It sounds like you and the bike are very happy!

--- Denise

[massbikebabe]

Surlorbea...(hahahahaha)

Check out the bar tape here http://www.somafab.com/bartape.html
I got some real nice tape for the ole Terry here.


Emily, I saw that pink Orbea up close and personal...she's a beauty!

karen