Back to inside...

I had this set up for my indoor put-put rides. Teh trusty Townie 7D, not really meant for fast fitness rides but more for cruising and with baskets on it, shopping.

My intent was to just pedal slowly and watch crap on TV, but then my hip seized up on it, reminding me that recumbents do not like me and the crank forward on this is, apparently, like a recumbent as far as my body is concerned.

It's been fine for shorter rides and tons of fun outside. But after 20 minutes...ouch. And that was an ouch that lasted for over a week and kept me from riding at all.

So, I parked it in the garage and brought the road bike in. This week the weather is turning HOT and I am a delicate flower, so I presume my riding will be done inside to prevent my death or from me curling up in a tight ball at the edge of the road while I cry like a little girl.

What I did not expect?

This is so much more comfortable on the trainer. And quieter. I still need a mat under it because it rocks a bit when I really get going, but this morning's test ride was quite nice.

Part of that might be owed to slapping a slightly wider seat on it. It's not at all cushy, but I don't feel like my sit bones are being massively wounded while I'm on it.

So, yeah, I clearly have a fat ass.

One short 25 minute ride is not enough to really decide that this is THE seat, but I didn't feel like squirming around and didn't hit 5 miles and wish for either a magical fairy to sprinkle numb-butt dust on me nor did I decide holy hell I need a break.

Along with swapping the seat, I added speed and cadence sensors so I at least have a better idea of how fast and far I'm going. I was just timing it on the Townie and I know I was off by quite a bit, simply because I don't think I was pedaling fast enough.

After about 5 minutes I also put a fan on the floor in front of the bike, because inside riding is hot. Go figure.

I did about half an hour just to test it out, and will probably do another half later. Or longer. I have a whole bunch of series to binge and I am years behind on most of them.

Yep, I did it again

After a leg injury that kept me off the bike for a couple of weeks, I picked this up:

Trek FX Sport 4 Carbon.

I decided I wanted a fitness type bike, one that won't be the ride-as-fast-as-I-can thing, but the one I'll ride when I'm out with the Spouse Thingy. And when I'm not trying to sprint.

New Bike Day is Best Day, so of course when I picked it up, as soon as I got it home the skies opened up and it rained like a mofo. On one hand, argh. On the other...time to put on the bottle cages and Gramin mount.

I've now had the chance to put about 40 miles on it. It's still a bit breezy out but unless I'm heading right into it, not too bad. It took a few miles and getting off and back on to get the seat angle and height right where I wanted, but now that it's dialed in...not too shabby.

It rides quite a bit like my road bike, which is a good thing. I wanted that same feeling but with a flat bar, which gives me a fair shot at figuring out which one I like the most. And while it's way too soon to tell, right now, it's pretty well tied up. I like them both a little too much to be natural.

The fitness bike is a little slower, though part of that right now is trying to ride with the wind pushing at me--and I can feel it. But even when riding where I'm blocked from the wind, I can feel how much the change in position (which is surprisingly not that much) puts me into a but more resistance.

And oddly, my hands hurt more on this, but that might just be a matter of getting used to it. The grips are ergonomic and cushioned, but my hands don't get to move around as much (though I did switch up and use the inner part of the handlebar for a while today, gave me a little relief.)

What I haven't done is swapped back and forth between the two bikes yet, and I won't for about a week. I want to give this one a good breaking in...and also want to change the saddle on the road bike.

I've had a Specialized Power Pro with Mimic on it, and at first it felt all right, but over the miles I started having some serious pain right where my left sit bone hit the seat. This wasn't even a get-used-to-the-seat thing; this was agonizing and left me literally bruised. I spent a few minutes describing the pain to someone who knows a thing or two and who works for the company, and he thought I had a saddle too narrow for the distance between my sit bones.

Now, I was sitting there groaning internally because it's not a cheap saddle. And I wasn't about to pony up for a new one. But because he's the one who hooked me up in the first place, he arranged to have the next size sent, and when it gets here I can send the other one back.

If that doesn't work...well, the one on my fitness bike is (seemingly) comfy so I can order one of those.

In any case, I'm digging the new ride and am now pouting because tomorrow it's supposed to rain. Hard. With a lot of wind. I could ride in the rain, but I don't want to on a new bike and besides...I'm delicate. Tomorrow's miles will be done inside while I catch up on The Crown...which I am WAY behind on.

Priorities. I has them.