"It's Father's Day. Go ride your bike, and don't come back before 6PM..."

[BiggJawn]

31 miles in 2 and a half hours. TWO (count 'em!) Two monster hils and I did NOT walk!

What a nice Father's Day present...Oh, the new summer shirt and lunch at Le Chateau Blanc ruled, too....

[Longhorn]

1. I'm impressed!

Mr. Longhorn and I only did 25 miles but it took us 2:45. Our route was full of hills, however, with temps in the 90s (and our typical high humidity.) It was a nice ride though, all over Austin, including through the Capitol grounds. Afterwards, grilled steaks and chicken at our daughter's house. :D

[BiggJawn]

2. How's the new seating position working out?

Do you feel like you're developing more power?

[Longhorn]

3. It felt good once I was on it.

But it was a bit of a hassle getting on. I didn't realize how I was used to hopping on the seat and peddling away. We actually started off on a group ride but the group took off and I was still trying to get on my bike! We caught them at the first light but then I still had trouble and didn't get through the light. We never saw them again!

Which I really think is rude, actually. It wasn't advertised as a no-drop ride but the leader said they were going to go at a "leisurely pace" and mentioned stopping at a coffee shop, but I guess leisurely means something else to them and they must have skipped the coffee shop. My husband had chain problems, which also put us behind. After the ride, we took his bike to the bike shop for its first free tune-up.

We actually didn't need the group. We had the map to make sure we stayed on bike-friendly routes but my husband has lived in Austin for nearly 40 years and I've been here for 32. In fact, the tour was almost like a tour of our life together -- we started at his old junior high and pedaled through his old stomping grounds. We rode past the duplex we lived in when we were first married, then through a neighborhood where he has remodeled nearly every other house. We even stopped at one of his current remodels on a historic home that I hadn't seen yet and the owners were there and gave us water. We rode through the UT campus past the dorm I lived in as a freshman and the music building and stadium where Mr. Longhorn played trumpet in the Longhorn Band, and then through the Capitol grounds -- we both worked at the Capitol at various times. There were memories everywhere which we enjoyed sharing.

Anyway, with all the starting and stopping, I did get better at taking off. The hills were definitely easier to take. I'm looking forward to trying the hills on my commute so that I can truly compare the "before" and "after."

[BiggJawn]

4. Helpful hint for starting...

I use SPD pedals, so what I do is set the right-hand crank arm at about 9 o'clock, clip in, and then when I want to start-up, I step down with my right foot and LIFT myself into the saddle. A few strokes one-legged to get some speed up, then I clip the other foot in, raise up to make sure everything is riding where it needs to be, and awa-a-a-a-ay we go!

A "Leisurely Pace" to most Lance Wanna-Bees is about 19-23 MPH...if it wasn't advertised as a "No-Drop" ride, then it probably turned into a Hammerfest, with some guys going off the front at a pace that would make Jan Ulrich wish he hadn't had that extra Bratwurst the night before...

Which is why I have such little interest in joining a club. Besides the carbon-frame "Why do you ride THAT antique?" butt-sniffing that goes on trying to establish the pecking order, I'm too fast for the 10MPH bike path pootlers, and too slow for the Spandex Racer boys with their expensive charcoal briquets and 23 MPH cruising speeds...

It sounds like you had the better ride, anyway, riding down memeory lane like that. Look at it like this, the guys who dropped you spent a coupla hours staring at each other's rear wheel 2" in front of their front tyre, dodging snot, loogies, and spilled "energy drinks", yelling "hold your LINE dammit!" at each other and basically turning what should have been FUN into the Bataan Death March. Some of these "Group Rides" remind me of Tolkien's description of the Orcs forced march to Isengard with Merri and Pippin...

But they're getting FIT, just like Buy-Cycling Magazine told 'em too!

[Longhorn]

5. Thanks for the chuckles!

I don't know if they were that bad but your description is hilarious and I can just imagine the type from some of the posts I read on bikeforums.net.

You know, I haven't been clipping in that much because I'm still too nervous about falling. But I hadn't thought about clipping in actually helping me get started. I'll practice what you described and see if I can't get better at it. Thanks! I can always count on you, BiggJawn, to make this newbie feel better! :yourock:

[Longhorn]

6. Update on seat adjustment.

I rode my commute yesterday and couldn't believe the difference! The hills were flatter and I was faster on the flat! I shaved three minutes off the downhill commute and four minutes off the uphill! I feel so tall on that bike, too!

[BiggJawn]

7. LOL! I KNEW you'd love it!

You get more power when you can extend your leg. TOLD you you'd get used to it, didn't I? :-)

My Girlfriend rode her birthday present for the first time last night. I had set the saddle height based on a tape measurement, and as expected, she didn't like it. Couldn't put her foot down.

"Get out of the saddle when we stop to put a foot down..."

I followed behind to check if I had gotten it too high, but there was no hip-rocking noticed, and after about 2 miles she was starting to enjoy it.

But I have to swap-out the stem because it's too long and too low. Think i'm going to chage to upright handlebars, too.

[Longhorn]

8. Yep, you were right

as you always are! :D

It's so much more fun being able to go up hills without always having to get in the lowest gear. I feel like now I'm truly going to get those muscles built up!

[BiggJawn]

9. Don't blame me, it was Cyrille Guimard who did it!

Greg Lemond's old coach came up with the idea of the higher seat. Was pretty controversial when introduced, but it's pretty much considered "Etched in Stone" now.