first "real" road ride

[bounceswoosh]

Ahhh, the camelback--looks like you hit a spot . Do what works, don't worry what anyone thinks...but, learning to drink from a bottle is a good skill to have. Don't give up, yet. There's a thread all about it. It gets easier.

I'm not too worried about it -- it'll come with time. Like you say, I think it's a good skill to have. It does seem like the cool kids around here disdain camelbaks; if I need one, I'll wear one, but if so I want it to be because it's the best choice for me, not because I'm too lazy to learn how to drink out of a bottle! On the mountain bike, I have gotten very used to the camelbak, but it's the blowfish model, and I use it as much for the ability to cart miscellaneous "stuff" with me as for water. It's pretty huge; I don't think I'd want to wear it on the road. I have a smaller one more suitable for riding, but it holds less water than two bottles. And I already have a third industrial-strength one for hiking and skiing, so I really don't want to buy a fourth one just for road riding =P

Hrm, I wonder if you can buy camelbak stock ... looks like probably not ... darn.

I don't know enough about positoning on the bike to give advice, but it sounds like something's off. Is your saddle too high? Are you riding clipless? Could be your cleat position. Could be a lot of things, I guess. I'd start with the saddle. It's always the saddle. Oh, and you'll soon discover the quest for the perfect one is not unlike Ponce de León's search for the fountain of youth. You will look far and wide, and measuring devices will be implemented .

LOL! I went through the saddle shopping process for my mountain bike. Many were called; few were chosen. Okay, one was chosen. But in this case I don't think it's the saddle, and I don't think it's the saddle height. Cleat position is a possibility. I'll do another ride or two and see what shakes out.

Glad you had such a great ride! Your time sounds fast. Looks like you're in this for the long haul. Welcome to the club!

Wellll ... I *was* riding with DH, him mostly in the lead, so he probably pulled me along except when I was so slow I couldn't even stay close enough to draft him. This particular ride was pretty flat for around here. We'll see how I do if I actually try to ride to Jamestown or something!

If you are on a downhill and run out of gears and want to pick up more speed, then crouch down low over your handlebars and tuck in your knees and elbows and get more aerodynamic. As long as you are going downhill, you'll continue to pick up more speed this way.

Thanks, Bleecker -- to be honest, I didn't even go down into the drops, so maybe I need to figure that part out. (Seems so much more ... vulnerable ...)

Just curious, are you using something like Speedplays that have a lot of float? My Speedplays really helped my knees and ankles.

They're the Shimano SPD pedals for the road bike. I would imagine they have the same play as my mountain bike's pedals, although those pedals are a few years old. Do pedals get more play as they get older?

The ankle thing could be that with all the fast spinning you were trying to do or with the extra climbing you had more ankle action going on. That means more force getting into the downstroke while engaging your anterior tibialis muscle and working those extensor tendons. It could also mean locking your ankles by freezing those tendons to try to get a few more rpms out on the descents. Either way, if it's not your shoe strap fit or anything then it's probably just that that part of your calf is out of shape. Whereas you'd feel it at lower cadences or hiking up a mountain (walking) towards the upper part of the calf, with the action of road cycling at faster cadences, you're more likely to tire out faster down towards the tendons the muscle connects to in the ankle.

I'm a little confused because the pain was in the front of my ankle, just below my shin -- but it sounds like you're talking more about the calf. There could be an imbalance in my muscles for sure -- but I want to be sure we're talking about the same thing.

Other than that, the only thing I can think of is that you're moving your toes around inside the shoe or doing something else abnormal on a more difficult road ride than you'd do elsewhere.

I'm probably doing something abnormal! I always try to wiggle my toes here and there to reduce numbness, but unless I'm purposely doing that, I don't think they move at all.

Oh, and it helps to tip the bottle up to the side (either right or left depending on which hand you use) to get water out while still keeping your eyes on the road in front of you.

GREAT tip! Thank you for that.