# First Day on a Bike in Over Half a Dozen Years



## riverc0il (May 23, 2009)

That was damn fun! Been an anxious two weeks for me as I went the BikesDirect.com route and got a Mercier Corvus AL. Having had my old rusted out 20 year old road bike, I was able to take measurements and get the sizing down pretty well. Though the handlebars were a little lower than I had expected. Otherwise, fit and feel are great. $800 for a bike with 105s for the major components is about half what could be found at the LBS. Risky doing an online purchase but overall I am a satisfied customer. S got a Trek 1.2 with the Sora and I was glad I was able to make the 105 happen within my price range.

Box arrived in good time and with everything in perfect condition. I took my time assembling but could have done so in 10-15 minutes easily now that I have done it once. I think even someone without prior experience with bike parts could do the assembly without issue though there were one or two confusing moments. Took it to the LBS for a tune up as wheels were way out of true and brakes and derailleurs need a quick fix.

My last bike was a 12 speed road bike with a rear derailleur that didn't work (only got 4/6 gears reliably) and brakes that were so off the pads often rubbed the wheels. And the frame was slightly "off". Anyways, having three rings up front is quite different and having 10 gears in the rear is a head trip. The amount of micro-adjusting that needs to be done is crazy, but I think it'll be like second nature with some practice.

Due to having very large feet, I ordered shoes online as most online stores don't even have over 48 so I assumed none of the LBS's would. Got a 49 which is still a hair too small so I will need to return and exchange for the 50. Can't wait to try clipless after having used clips for so long.

Any ways, I couldn't wait a week for the damn shoe exchange, so I took the bike out for three miles with my sneakers on clipless pedals. Definitely didn't get the complete feel without having any pull up on the backside, but damn this thing flies. Sweet! So much smoother than my previous bike. And the 105 STI style shifters are so much cooler than reaching down to the tube based shifter. 3 miles felt like 30 though, especially without clips or clipless shoes! And especially since I haven't biked in like 7 years (10 years since I biked seriously). 

Of course, now that S and I both have bikes, she just sprained her ankle while out walking the dog.


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## Marc (May 23, 2009)

Congrats man, I'm glad I'll have someone else around here to BS about road riding with.

You'll get used to the gearing.  And the shoes will make a huge difference.  It is unreal how stiff the soles are now... almost no power loss to the shoe.  And yeah... road bikes..... fly!  :beer:


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## bvibert (May 23, 2009)

Glad the new bike is working out for you so far Steve!

Bummer about S, hopefully she recovers soon.


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## WoodCore (May 23, 2009)

Awesome Steve!!! Having been off a bike for almost 20 years myself and recently buying a MTB and re-catching the bug, all I can say is it's a great feeling. 

Hopefully S's ankle heals up and you two are able to get out crank some miles.


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## mondeo (May 24, 2009)

Marc said:


> Congrats man, I'm glad I'll have someone else around here to BS about road riding with.


+1.


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## RootDKJ (May 24, 2009)

Congrats on the new ride.  Enjoy it!


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## bvibert (May 24, 2009)

I felt like a roadie today when the only time I was able to catch up to and pass Greg and Tim was on the gravel path that we used as part of our ride today.  Is that close enough to roadie talk for ya Marc?


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## Greg (May 24, 2009)

Congrats Steve. Enjoy! I'll be interested in reading about your experience. I rediscovered mountain biking last year after a 10 year hiatus. No looking back for me now.


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## mondeo (May 24, 2009)

bvibert said:


> I felt like a roadie today when the only time I was able to catch up to and pass Greg and Tim was on the gravel path that we used as part of our ride today.  Is that close enough to roadie talk for ya Marc?


On my last ride last year, I started a downhill after a good bit of climbing, a few nice tight tuns, and suddenly I'm greeted by gravel road. For a couple hundred foot vertical down hill. Had to ride the brakes the entire way down. My most disappointing and scary moment biking thus far.


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## bvibert (May 24, 2009)

mondeo said:


> On my last ride last year, I started a downhill after a good bit of climbing, a few nice tight tuns, and suddenly I'm greeted by gravel road. For a couple hundred foot vertical down hill. Had to ride the brakes the entire way down. My most disappointing and scary moment biking thus far.



I meant more along the lines that I seem to excel at riding on flat ground versus uneven, technical ground.


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## Greg (May 27, 2009)

Any other rides in Steve?


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## bvibert (Jun 1, 2009)

Did you get proper fitting shoes yet Steve?


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## riverc0il (Jun 1, 2009)

I returned my original order and ordered the next size up. Should be here tomorrow or Wednesday. Then I will see if I can ride my bike still splinted up (re-injured the thumb due to the dog barrelling into my hand, nice). Might still be a week or two before I get out there. Really bumming on getting behind in training but I guess it leaves more time for the run.


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## bvibert (Jun 1, 2009)

That sucks to hear about the thumb again Steve!  Especially from something like the dog running into it...

I hope it heals up quick and your new shoes fit well so you can go for a proper ride.


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## riverc0il (Jun 2, 2009)

Next size up in the shoes arrived today and I am totally stoked! Took me a minute or two to figure out how to mount the cleats but once I figured out the logistics, they went in fine.

Shoe fit is good enough. 50 is a lot better fit than the 49 even though 49 is technically once size bigger than normal shoe fit for my foot. Not thrilled with the arch situation... but peddling on the balls of my feet, I don't think the arches need to be perfect.

First time clicking into the clipless peddles was extremely satisfying. Just like a ski binding, I thought it would be more technical. Last I rode, I had clips. Just clipping in without even pushing off... I could already feel how much more power could be driven, especially on the rear/upward part of the cycle.

The thumb is still sore enough that I can't squeeze the break easily, so I am laying off for a few more days. I hope to have my first extended trip by the end of this weekend.


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## mondeo (Jun 2, 2009)

riverc0il said:


> First time clicking into the clipless peddles was extremely satisfying. Just like a ski binding, I thought it would be more technical. Last I rode, I had clips. Just clipping in without even pushing off... I could already feel how much more power could be driven, especially on the rear/upward part of the cycle.
> 
> The thumb is still sore enough that I can't squeeze the break easily, so I am laying off for a few more days. I hope to have my first extended trip by the end of this weekend.


Yeah, with clipless it's pretty much the strength of the rider that's the limit on the upstroke. It's nice.

I got my cast off today. Still can't put any weight on my wrist, bend it enough to shift, or have enough strength in the hand to shift. Hoping for the weekend, but probably doubtful. Which means running still. Running sucks.


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## Marc (Jun 3, 2009)

riverc0il said:


> Next size up in the shoes arrived today and I am totally stoked! Took me a minute or two to figure out how to mount the cleats but once I figured out the logistics, they went in fine.
> 
> Shoe fit is good enough. 50 is a lot better fit than the 49 even though 49 is technically once size bigger than normal shoe fit for my foot. Not thrilled with the arch situation... but peddling on the balls of my feet, I don't think the arches need to be perfect.
> 
> ...



Nice Steve.  I'm almost jealous of the season begining excitement you get to experience.

Remember, if you're going to bike regularly, pick a reasonable base mileage and don't increase more than 10% per week and stretch, stretch, stretch!

Until I started road cycling regularly (at least 4 times a week) I had no idea how common over use injuiries were in cycling.  Almost always the knees.  And very often the result of tight IT bands, or some other muscle imbalance.  And sometimes cleat alignment.

I'm very jealous of your location too.  I wish I had the climbs around here that you have access to up there.


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## riverc0il (Jun 3, 2009)

Marc said:


> Nice Steve.  I'm almost jealous of the season begining excitement you get to experience.
> 
> Remember, if you're going to bike regularly, pick a reasonable base mileage and don't increase more than 10% per week and stretch, stretch, stretch!
> 
> ...


I am starting training for a sprint triathlon so I am familiar with the 10% weekly increase rule and not over training and getting over use injuries. Given my extra weight over the past few years, I am trying to be even more careful, especially of the knees.

This is indeed a very nice area for climbs. Lots of good flats as well. Roads are either very good or very bad for cycling around here and I don't have a lot to work with immediately out my back door. But five miles travel in either direction have yields some excellent routes, with lots of hilly back roads around the lakes region.

Would like to work up to a ride from home to Waterville Valley which is a half century round trip via Route 3 from my house. Routes 3, 104, 25, 49, and 118 are all solid roads for biking and the masochist in me is already thinking about driving the bike up to Route 112 :blink: Though for now, I just want to get riding some relatively short loops and build up to a quick 15 mile speed as the biking is definitely going to be my strongest part of the triathlon.


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## Marc (Jun 3, 2009)

Kewl.  Two years ago I had nagging overuse pain in both knees from doing too much too early and not stretching enough, so now I'm paranoid enough to warn everyone else.

I hear you about the masochism thing.  I was actually considering driving 3 hrs up to the Kanc later this summer so I could ride from Lincoln to Conway and back... you know, just for the hell of it.


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## riverc0il (Jun 3, 2009)

Well, splint on the wrist be damned. While I definitely can't ride without the splint, it provided enough support that I could work the breaks, so I took the bike out for a short spin this evening. A six mile round trip out and back route into town. Various hills the entire way including steady ups and downs and some really steep short hills (steep enough to occasionally max out my gears/peddling). Pretty good work out for just six miles!

Still amazed at having 3x10 for gears compared to my old 2x6. And on that old 2x6 bike, I would only use seven gears.... all 1-6 in the back and then just throw the front gear over for fast speeds. Micro managing the gears is super helpful in maintaining a steady pace.

Speaking of pace, I really need to get a watch. I needed one any ways for running for a few weeks now but now I really want to start tracking some numbers. Speaking of numbers... short of carrying a GPS with me... is there any mapping system out there that tracks vertical gain? Like Google maps directions but with elevation?


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## riverc0il (Jun 3, 2009)

riverc0il said:


> Speaking of numbers... short of carrying a GPS with me... is there any mapping system out there that tracks vertical gain? Like Google maps directions but with elevation?


Seek and I shall find. Veloroutes.org gets the job done. Wish I didn't have to micro plot the route as it uses straight lines between points instead of following the logical road choice. 188 foot gain with only 1 foot difference between starting and ending location for 375 foot gain over the course of six miles.


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## Marc (Jun 3, 2009)

riverc0il said:


> Seek and I shall find. Veloroutes.org gets the job done. Wish I didn't have to micro plot the route as it uses straight lines between points instead of following the logical road choice. 188 foot gain with only 1 foot difference between starting and ending location for 375 foot gain over the course of six miles.



www.mapmyride.com has an elevation feature too, but it sucks for cycling because of its averaging.  It will start grossly underestimating anything over maybe 15 miles.  Same with its grade steepness.  Good for running distances though.  Mapmyride does have a snap to roads feature however.


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## mondeo (Jun 3, 2009)

http://www.mapmyride.com/

Get a cyclometer. Decent ones are pretty easy to get at around $20-30, and really nice to have.


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## mondeo (Jun 3, 2009)

Another one, not as tight as mapmyrides and meant for running:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/


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## riverc0il (Jun 7, 2009)

Quick 9.5 miles today. I say "quick" despite that being my longest ride so far. Took a horrible route. Learned just how bad Route 3 is between Ashland and Plymouth  Probably some of the more dangerous cycling I have ever done and that coming from someone that used to ride through Haverill, Lawrence, Metheun, Lowell, etc. Surprised I didn't blow out a  tire. No shoulder and frequent car passes. MTB'ers need to experience that before they judge road vs. MTB. 

Any ways, the nice parts of the route were money. I still can't get over how sweet this bike handles compared to my last junker. Especially on the flats. Just eye opening and jaw dropping speed. Finally started remembering how to work hills, especially small bumps so I don't end up dropping many if any gears by bumping the cadence/effort just a touch. Front derailler is going to need a bit of adjusting when I bring it in for the first one month tune up as it doesn't want to go into the smallest ring (which is big problems when the grade gets steep!).

I think the trick around will be finding the side roads that go to the same places that the main roads go. So many of the main roads have no shoulder. But there are often round about routes that I would never have considered with a car that would be perfect on a road bike (more climbs that way too!).


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## mondeo (Jun 7, 2009)

riverc0il said:


> I think the trick around will be finding the side roads that go to the same places that the main roads go. So many of the main roads have no shoulder. But there are often round about routes that I would never have considered with a car that would be perfect on a road bike (more climbs that way too!).


Google maps are your friends. Just beware of dirt roads, I gotta figure that's a bigger risk up there.


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## Greg (Jun 7, 2009)

riverc0il said:


> No shoulder and frequent car passes. MTB'ers need to experience that before they judge road vs. MTB.



Precisely why I have no interest in road riding, at least not now. The forest seems safer.


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## Marc (Jun 8, 2009)

riverc0il said:


> Any ways, the nice parts of the route were money. I still can't get over how sweet this bike handles compared to my last junker. Especially on the flats. Just eye opening and jaw dropping speed. Finally started remembering how to work hills, especially small bumps so I don't end up dropping many if any gears by bumping the cadence/effort just a touch. Front derailler is going to need a bit of adjusting when I bring it in for the first one month tune up as it doesn't want to go into the smallest ring (which is big problems when the grade gets steep!).



Take a smallish phillips head screwdriver and turn the screw on the top of your front derailleur, the one closer to the frame, out about a half turn.  See if that lets you shift into the low ring.

Front derailleurs, especially, on road bikes I've found to be very, very touchy.  A quarter turn on the limit screws on my front makes the difference between a perfect shift to the low ring, and falling off the low ring completely.


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