The New Blog - Cycling Anonymous

Hello everyone, I'd like to welcome you to my cycling blog... today, I realized I had a problem... and instead of keeping quiet about it, I decided to share it with you. Maybe you're a professional rider, avid cyclist, crazed mountain biker or thinking about starting out. Let me say up front that this blog will be funny, raw, honest and sometimes rude... If you enjoy, subscribe by email or RSS feed and tag along for the journey... I hope it's a long one!

Background

I started about a year ago with a hybrid like this from craiglist... for $200. I didn't know anything about cycling, not even enough to properly air the tires.

I figured it would help me see if I would be committed to riding anything, at 41 then... I wasn't sure if I would take to the hobby/exercise or if my knees would allow it. I ended up riding this bike a couple of times when I figured out I might like it. But I SWORE I wouldn't be "that person"... those Lance wannabees running people off the trails in their fancy little outfits.

Just a couple of months later... I looked like this:

I still joke with my "dealer" about my transition. The Trek was good, a woman specific design (WSD) in aluminum. Price point for this is around $960 without any upgrades. When you add in accessories, gear etc... I figured I'm in. Stuck now... like many of you, I need to make a serious investment to encourage myself to stay with it.

After riding my first "real" bike, I realized I'm to old to be on aluminum anything. The aluminum bikes just end up transferring all of the road to your back and... your bits. I did learn a lot about what I wanted and what I didn't want. Sometimes the later is more important... I also learned that it doesn't have to hurt if the bike fits right. I realized I actually enjoyed it, even though I wasn't very good at anything yet. I was so out of shape that 10 miles seemed like a milestone... yup, 10 damn, long, hateful miles... that's how I felt about it then.

Now, I need to move up and get more serious... I needed comfort and style.  I did allot of research, and I mean ALLOT! While riding I often found myself attracted to one specific brand... but my dealer thought I would prefer to stick with the Trek brand. The Trek Madone is the brand Lance most commonly uses (made for him of course).  I tried several of them and wasn't exactly satisfied.

I asked for a Cervelo RS to be brought from the other store. There was only one left in my size anywhere and I was hopeful. Cervelo is a beautiful piece of equipment to ride, watch, hear... the RS model was designed for the distance rider, not crit racing. The bike arrive, I test drove and it was love:

I put it on lay-away and had to take the photo to show everyone while waiting. Starting price for this model is $2,600 without upgrades. I had to wait to take him home:

it was a big day of celebration! But it was January... and even in TX... it was cold outside. I needed winter gear:

Notice the color scheme change... yup, I spent more cash on new colors... cause I'm "one of those people" now... a snob... I wear it proudly! I have summer gear too, because I'm writing this blog in August and its seriously hot outside!

This photo is from June after a 42 mile ride... yes, I'm as red as my USMC jersey! I was training for my first rally, the Colin Classic:

Front of Rally

Behind me

By now I'm hooked... like a junkie... Next up for me is the Hotter N Hell 100 aka HHH ride August 25, 2012 this year. I signed up for 100 miles and hope to hell I can do every last one of them. There will be a blog dedicated solely to that, with video and photos.