Wordless Walk With Me Wednesday - East Spring Creek Trail
I finally did it! After talking about getting a different bike for several months (I think since March or April) I finally decided it made sense to do so. The first several months I just wasn’t convinced that I would be a cyclist. Apparently, DH wasn’t quite certain either. But, somehow, despite the poor fit of my Raleigh comfort bike (SC-30, for sale on Craigslist if you are in the area and looking for a good deal) I hit a stride with biking. I figured if I could find myself missing my bike when the weather prevented my using it as transportation that it was a sign that I was getting hooked and that I’d likely get even more hooked if I had a bike that fit me better.
I managed to visit every bike shop in town and put my butt on just about anything that was within my budget and seemed to fix the issues I was experiencing with the old bike (well, except at one shop who couldn’t be bothered to help me). One of my early stops was ProVelo, upon the glowing recommendations it got from Deb and her daughter as well as Amanda’s hardcore cyclist co-workers.
I have to say, the accolades for ProVelo were well deserved. They worked hard to find a good fit and unlike any other shop in town, they watched my test rides and made adjustments and made additional suggestions based upon what they saw. The Jamis Coda Femme was only the third bike I tried. I came back three more times to try it and compare it to other test rides at other shops. They were always more than happy to send me on my way to give it another spin. They have also been extremely helpful with issues I’ve encountered this first week with it (a forever slipping seat, hand numbness despite wearing gloves, not knowing how to work the valves on the tires etc.) and yesterday they installed the special order fenders I had fallen in love with and even gratis installed a previously used rack! Top notch service!
I know I’m in the honeymoon phase right now. It’s only been a week. But I can’t imagine a better bike within my budget. Last week I rode my old bike to Monday Knit Night and this week my new bike. Would you believe that I shaved 6 minutes off of a 2.25 mi one way trip to knitting and 4 minutes off the return trip (up hill)? That’s a crazy amount of increased efficiency of power! I’m even in the realm of contemplating DH being the pace bike as I’m not too far from out pacing him (to be fair, really only because my bike is closer to a road bike in its efficiency and his is a mountain bike with slicks on). I even did a 14 mile ride on Sunday and felt like I definitely could have gone farther. All told, I logged 48.6 miles in my first week with the Coda. If you had asked me, even just ten days ago how many miles I’d log in a week on a bike I wouldn’t have guessed anywhere near 50 miles.
When the Coda first came home I adopted an every other day regime to give my legs a rest day. I did ride it Sunday, Monday (short, just 4.5 miles round trip for knitting) and Tuesday. Not the best move. At least not when combined with weight training and Yin Yoga that isn’t being taught by a Yin instructor. So I’ve taken a couple rest days here while the weather has been a little dodgy. I don’t expect I’m likely to log another 50 miles this week (bike weeks run Wednesday-Tuesday). But, we’ll see.
This all brings me to the subject of this post - I think I’m going to try checking in on my fitness progress on Fridays. Maybe not every week. But, in terms of the bike I think it would be very interesting to look at weekly mileage and perhaps how much money in gas I’ve saved. Not that every bike mile would have been a mile in the car. Sunday’s ride was a ride for fitness and fun sake. Anyone else interested in checking in on your fitness activities and goals on a semi-regular basis? It definitely need not be cycling or include money saved at all. Please feel free to join me!
Miles Biked: 48.6
Avg Gas Price: $3.42
Gas Money Saved: $8.75
YTD Gas Money Saved: $8.75
Now that the Coda is decked out in fenders and a rack, I think it needs a name! I haven’t named a bike before, but seeing as how intimate we are getting it seems only proper, don’t you think? She hasn’t told me her name yet. Who do you think she looks like?
