Congratulations on your ride! You should see your doctor about your asthma, though. It's very common for asthmatics to use a puff or two of an albuterol (Rx) inhaler before a ride. Really helps open the airways. I use Advair twice a day as an asthma preventative and now almost never have to use albuterol. Asthma is not something you want to mess around with, so I do hope you'll talk to your doctor about this.

You can search this site on asthma, and you'll turn up a ton of posts on the subject.

Enjoy your new bike!

Emily