Quote Originally Posted by Lynne
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!