holy hell i'm overwhelmed! PLEASE HELP!

[tulip]

Good for you on the helmet. It does not matter how far you are from home--you can fall off your bike anywhere. I don't understand why some folks (not you, just in general) feel that they don't need a helmet because they are just going on a short ride. It's like thinking that you only need to where a seatbelt when you go for long drives. When I had my bike accident and had to be airlifted to the trauma center, I was only a mile or so into my ride.

Your wrist might be aggravated by a couple of things:

1. putting all your weight on your arms and hands. This is common mistake that beginners (and others) make. You'll want to do some core strengthening exercises so that you can support your body with your core and not only with your hands and arms. In the meantime, make sure that your elbows aren't locked. They should be slightly bent to absorb the bumps.

2. your bike's top tube might be too long. Do you feel like you are too stretched out? You can do some adjustments to the stem (new shorter stem) and to the seat to compensate a bit.

Have fun riding!

EDIT: celery musta posted the same time as me. she already hit all the points.

[TahoeDirtGirl]

If you don't want to do lycra you can always get bike short liners that will fit (well sometimes) under 'regular' shorts or capris. You can get them at REI or anywhere that sells Pearl Izumi stuff. After riding for a couple of years, I don't wear padded shorts all the time, only when I mountain bike where it's really rocky.

The thing where people are saying your feet should be flat is the standover height, where your butt is off the seat, how you would be standing at a stop sign. Your feet should be flat on the floor and you should be able to stand comfortably over the tube of the bike without having to tilt to one side to compensate for the bike being too tall. Hope that makes sense!

[Kano]

Earthgirl --

now starts the fun with the saddle thing. You said the bike is a Trek, and my understanding is that "everyone hates those saddles." I figure someone has to like them, or the company would go out of business cuz they sell bikes that are uncomfortable.... (and the saddle company would be in deep poo too!) Anyway, when DH and I decided on the "comfort bikes" a couple of years ago, they came with "comfort saddles" -- wide, cushy things that he actually rode on for quite some time. (he bent his, and adopted mine for a while before getting something more "serious") On the other hand, I couldn't sit for a week after riding that saddle. Perhaps I was lucky, I picked up a Specialized Dolce saddle (not gel) and have been very happy with it on my hybrid (not the comfort beast anymore, I ride an older Trek hybrid, as mentioned back a page or two!)

I had found this forum already, and been reading a bit -- the suggestion was to not go too padded, because that's actually LESS comfy than the firmest saddles.

The comfort beast has a Specialized Milano on it now, I've never actually ridden on that saddle. I put the Dolce on my newest bike, a road bike, and didn't like it there. Replaced it with an Ariel, also Specialized. That's been a pretty happy choice too. Either I've been lucky, or I just have a specialized butt!

(and speaking of my specialized butt, I really ought to shift it into high gear and go for a ride!)

Karen in Boise

[earthgirl]

thanks for the advice on the tube length! i wouldn't have thought of it. I'm going to have to take it to an LBS as someone mentioned in my other post ... and do a fitting.

also - thanks for the seat advice, kano ;-) i'm going to research more here in the forums b/c that's about all I can do ... our cable went out so i'm relying on my phone for entertainment.

At least I don't have to listen to CNN tell me we're all facing "Certain Death."

Jeez. Dramatic, much?

[Biciclista]

hey Earthgirl! congrats on your first ride! wasn't it kinda windy??

[malkin]

You're on your way!

Everything I know about saddles I learned here on TE for the theory...for the practice, I had to learn from my own bum, like everyone else.

And holy hell or holy heck (for the righteous), I'm in Utah!

[uforgot]

I'm 5'4" with longish legs just like you. I had the 15" Trek wsd fx and went to the 17.5" regular Trek fx the second time. There is no difference in the geometry of the wsd and the regular 7.2fx. It changes as you go up the fx line though. I showed a printout of the geometry to my lbs and they were surprised too. The 17" was a better fit for me, so maybe you just need to get used to it. Also, I don't do the lycra only and I've been riding a long time. What I do is wear good padded shorts under a pair of regular shorts or capris, like mountain biking style or wear a Terry wrap skirt. I do recreational rides that are always more than 30 miles and they work beautifully.

Congratulations and have fun!