The next big thing...

is my new bike! I'm now the proud owner of a 2007 Lemond Versaille road bike. Christine and I tested a bunch of different models and brands while we searched for the perfect bike do our next TnT event. We are going to be riding our new bikes 100 miles at the, (and I quote) America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride. Take a look at this Map. Crazy. We looked at a lot of brands including Giant, Trek, Specialized, Scattante, and Bianchi. I also looked at Fuji and Schwinns. The Lemond was the one that I liked the best and it was on sale. Not bad when you can get a $2,100 bike for $1300. It's purty...see














I picked it up late Friday night after getting "fitted" by one of the bike technicians at the bike store. First step was to buy pedals and shoes. It's important because the height of the shoes and the position of the clips affects the position of the rider on the bike. Next step is to adjust the height and lateral position of the seat. Then they look at the position of the rider in relation to the position of the cranks. It's best to have your knee be 1 tiny centimeter behind the crank to be in the optimum driving position so that you don't waste energy pushing out on the pedal when you should be pushing down. The final step involves positioning of the handlebars and sometimes swapping out the top stem so that the rider isn't so stretched out reaching for the bars. Of course with so many variables, one item affects the others so it ends up being an interative process. After about an hour, I was all set but it was too dark to ride!

Christine and I got to the bike store way too late so consequently, she wasn't able to get fitted on her bike. I was pretty bummed because we had planned our first ride at Lake Miramar the next morning. Sadly it was not to be. So we ate some pho.

















I took my new baby out for a ride on Saturday afternoon. I had planned a ride around Lake Miramar because it is pretty flat and is exactly a 5-mile loop. Geared up and took a ride. It was awesome. The bike is so fast and light. Spec says that it is less than 18 lbs! Damn, my dumbells at home weigh more than that. Using the clip pedals and shoes took a bit of getting used to but not too bad. 5-Miles came too soon so I decided to take another 5, making a total of 10-miles.

Good times.

I would have kept going but the next day was the Carlsbad 1/2 marathon.