Yesterday, Kyle and I finished up our first organized century of the year, the Strawberry Century (http://www.santiamspokes.org/strawberry.html). I was really looking forward to this ride because it represented the first organized ride on my new bike.
This week, I’d been doing a lot of riding to break things in. Without counting this century, I’d put in close to 300 miles on my bike — so I was curious to see how my legs would hold up.
The ride itself — lots of fun. This is the first time that I’ve ever ridden the Strawberry and it’s a nice route filled primarily with rolling hills and nice scenery. There really is only one short, steep hill to be climbed — so you can actually push the pace of the ride if you wanted to.
And how did the new bike do? Great. I can tell that there are places where I’m definitely faster on this bike and the effort that it takes to hold faster speeds really is quite a bit easier than on my old bike (probably due to the different gearing). And the best part is — today I’m feeling fine. Other than my legs being a little sluggish today and my backside being a little sore from breaking in a new bike seat — I’m feeling like I could probably head out and do the ride again today.
Oh, and for those that missed the ride this year and want to think about it for next. They give out strawberry shortcake at the end of the ride to all the riders. Around 80 miles and a bunch of gatorade and bananas later — that sounds like the best food in the world (that an McDonald’s Cheeseburger, which I had after the ride). But the shortcake is definitely a good reward for all the hard work (and good too).
–TR