2nd Bike! I have named her Lucy.

Despite ignoring my husband's theory of the need for N + 1 bikes (where N is the number of bikes you currently own), I decided to get a commuter bike.

My logic being that I would like to eventually commute locally (shops, cinemas) by bike as theoretically there appear to be many benefits in Sydney.

1. Quicker - traffic in Sydney is awful
2. Parking - parking is getting harder and harder to find.
3. Trip to work - a very convenient distance (8.5km) with great shower facilities, and I'm a big fan of incidental exercise - ie. exercise that happens because of something else, ie. I have to get to work and home, right?

So, instead of going for a Saturday afternoon ride (it was quite windy), we drove to another local bike shop to look at bikes.

I had a bike in mind - hybrid commuter - a little bit Danish looking.

Specialized Globe Work 

But after riding it, it just felt awful.  Very smooth, but very slow and sluggish and not responsive.

So we tried a bit further up the spectrum with a flat bar roadie.

Specialized Vita 2013

It felt much better.  And it was pink!

And it was on sale for $539!  Which fit into the budget that I wanted.

I figured something like this.

bike = $550
rack = $50
rear basket = $70

TOTAL = about $700

So I was hoping to find a bike < $600 as a commuter - ie. the sacrificial bike for people to steal. 

Otherwise, the cost was getting close to the road bike cost (and the logic being, well I could just have my road bike stolen).

I kept in mind something I read in the recent Choice article - How to buy a bike.  In the article, it says,

"One of the most common mistakes people make when buying a bike is getting one that tries to do everything, says Iain Treloar from Bicycle Network."

Which I kind of figured was perhaps what I was doing by making my road bike my everything bike..

 ANYWAY,

The saddle felt AWFUL.  It didn't feel comfortable at all, I felt like my sit bones were touching the saddle but nothing else was and I didn't feel supported at all.

We measured my sit bones on those gel pad things.

(Courtesy - bikegal.com)

And my measurement was 125mm, which is quite wide.

So we put on a wider saddle and it felt better but still not good.

I felt like now I was bouncing all over the place.

So the shop guy decided to try one last thing, he flipped my handlebars upside down to get a more aggressive position (more similar to my road bike).  This also tilted my pelvis and meant that I was sitting slightly differently on the bike and this stopped the bouncing.

SOLD!!

Yay!  New bike!

(Image via gearjunkie.com)

Husband Guest Post: Bike Fit

Today features a guest post by my husband (with pictures by me!)

(Image from magnetoboldtoo.com)

Today I went for a bike fit with Giant Sydney. 

I guess the important thing to realise is that this is actually a fairly involved process. 

It’s not just to get the bike to fit the rider, but also to teach the rider how to best use the bike.

(Image from velo-orange.blogspot.com.au/)

Measuring and Adjusting

First, a series of measurements are taken, things like height, flexibility, core strength and a series of tests to see how I used my legs while moving and my feet while balancing. 

The fitter made adjustments to my cleats (the shoe attachments that clip into our pedals) as well as to my saddle.

(Image from drivemybike.wordpress.com)

My bike was put on an indoor trainer and a few measurements taken of me on the bike.

At this point some drastic changes needed to be made to my saddle. I didn’t realise, but I’d been slipping around and also reaching too far to the handlebars. 

After the adjustments I could feel exactly where the “normal” seating position was and settled into it easily.

Adjusting the rider

(Image from muppet.wikia.com)

I rode for a while on the trainer while being observed, both by the fitter and a camera.  

It turns out there were several issues with my position, elbows turning outwards and locked out arms as well as knees flailing outwards at the top of the pedal stroke. 

The catch phrase was: “Soft Hands!” Remembering this helped me to keep my elbows a little bent and my weight back and over the pedals where it’s meant to be.

The camera system is quite nifty . . . it has automatic image analysis that was measuring distance and angles of my body and the bike and making sure they were all within correct values.

[EDIT: I was watching my husband's video and found it hilarious at some stage that he was doing full gas on the trainer in the store and you can see people in the background walking around looking at shoes..hehehe]

Different Riding Positions

One of the greatest things I learnt at the bike fit was how to use different riding positions most effectively on the bike. 

There’s the “normal” position on the hoods while seated. This was the position that most of the measuring was done in and a lot of the initial corrections were made.

I also learnt that when standing up in the pedals, my weight was far too forward. Again, I needed to get “Soft Hands!” so that I could put my weight properly over the pedals.

I'm not saying this is a great position, just that I love this video clip - 

it makes me giggle so much!

Le Velo - Robin Moore

I even learnt a new position, the back a little on the saddle, leading the drive a little with the heels. I’ve never really done this before because with my old saddle position, it wasn’t really reachable.

The last and my most favourite is the “full gas”. Down in the drops and pushing over a big gear as fast as you can in an aerodynamic position. 

This position is interesting because while you’re supporting all your weight on your feet because you’re pushing so hard, you don’t actually get out of the saddle, you use the nose of the saddle as a guide to keep your position and you stay low to avoid the wind.

(Oh Cav - www.customgetaways.com)

After a little instruction and adjustment of my position each of these positions felt good, but I know I’m going to need more practice to solidify them.

And we’re done

There’s a lot of confidence in knowing your bike has been set up as well as it can be and matches you perfectly. There’s no second guessing and I’m looking forward to seeing how well the changes turn out in the long term.

I think my only regret is that I’ve covered nearly 3000km this year without getting this done. I’ll be needing to break some old habits instead of being able to learn things fresh. 

I would suggest that since the price ($159) is a reasonably small percentage of the price of most road bikes, this is an invaluable process. 

This is especially so if you’re like me and at least know a bit about riding, but haven’t ridden drop bars before and you really want to get the most out of your shiny new bike.

(Image from bikesnobnyc)

P.S.

It's funny, the first 2 points on the report were what my kung fu teacher always used to tell me:

1. Relax your shoulders
2. Work on hamstring flexibility

P.P.S.

The fitter also said if one of my balls doesn’t drop back down after riding, to come back and see him..

(ooh! Puss In Boots)

It's Friday!

I'm going to give myself a rest day today in anticipation of the weekend's riding.  :)

It's also my last day of work before the Christmas break!

(Courtesy - buzzfeed)

Husband is going for a bike fit today, and it sounds interesting, so I think I will ask him to write a guest post about that.

Almost end of second week

(Courtesy - www.readbreatherelax.com)

I'm so tired.

Commuting is hard work.

I'm worried because husband has organised a ride for Saturday (park laps) AND Sunday (my first road ride) this week that I really want to do and I'm feeling pretty out of it.  

Plus, I want to make the best use of the good weather!  (I think it's going to rain next week).

I found a forum post here: http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-805583.html

I have been riding for years for enjoyment and just two weeks ago started commuting to work The first week, I only rode two days. I have always done about between 10 and 20 mile [EDIT: 16-32 km] rides. What I noticed is at the end of the second week when I had rode four days to work, I was exhausted for most of Fri-Sunday, with no desire to ride my bike. I used to come home from work and want to ride and not feel like I was getting enough time on the bike. Before I started commuting I was working out at the gym four to five days a week and always felt like I had energy. Hopefully this feeling of tiredness will pass and my love for riding will come back. I do notice I like my ride home better because it is lighter and I can see more of the scenery. Did anyone else feel like this when they first started commuting?

YES!

Tips from the post:

• Get more sleep.
• In a few months, you'll get used to it.  (This is what my colleagues are telling me).
• Perhaps ride slower - don't need to do the same speed as road rides
• Eat better.  For some reason, I've lost my appetite.  Husband says it's because I always want to eat unhealthy fatty foods and I'm not really into healthy foods, my body doesn't know how to crave healthy foods haha.  I'm not sure what's going on with my lost appetite yet.. Haven't spotted that on any forums.
• Eat right after your ride.  I definitely need to try and do this.  I often get distracted when I arrive at work or when I get home.

I have a increased admiration for my colleagues at work that cycle every day.  I realise now that they must be pretty fit (despite whether or not they look it in the office).  :p

I think I'll ride a bit slower today and tomorrow.

Skirt garter is the best invention since sliced bread

Is sliced bread really that great an invention?  If people couldn't slice bread any more, I feel like humankind would be ok.

ANYWAY, in my pipedream plans of riding around Sydney in my normal clothes, I have been looking at lots of blogs to see how people do it.

(Courtesy - The Sartorialist - such gorgeous photos, sigh!)

I came across Bird Industries who make skirt garters (amongst other cool things) and they went on sale a few weeks ago, so I decided to get myself 2 (although you can do with one).

"Each product I’ve made so far has been born out of a need/want I’ve had. I had one skirt especially that drove me crazy when it flew up while I was riding. I figured there had to be an easier way to deal with it than riding one-handed – the skirt garter was born. In the development phase of each new product I make, I first use it for a while, make tweaks, give them out for friends to use, get feedback, make tweaks, and so on."  Full interview here.

So today I was meeting my friend for a lunch date and because I was in lycra this morning doing park laps, I felt like I didn't want to change back into lycra during a work day, so I packed my skirt garter for the lunchtime commute.

It was the best thing ever!  My dress is thigh length and not too flowy, but enough that I could freely pedal and get my leg over my saddle.  It felt so secure, I didn't feel like I was flashing anyone (despite getting 2 honks by a car on the way home haha).  

It felt really good.

I guess for some reason, I had almost sort of expected to have had a spectacularly awkward fall and flash everyone.

(Courtesy - www.taringa.net)

Second Bike / Quick Release

This is the bike that is winning the competition of what will be my new commuter / 2nd bike.

Specialized Globe Work 1 Step Thru Womens 2014

It looks skinny (I feel like a lot of the Women's commuter bikes look really thick and heavy) and it has the rack mounts and it's black so it looks cool (rather than a kid's or 80's bike).

I feel like my entry level road bike looks too fancy and is inviting being stolen...  I've done some reading and I think there is some (although not much) pattern of people stealing more newer, expensive looking bikes.

I think the drop handlebars make it look more valuable.

Giant Avail 3 2014

BUT THEN

Me: Ew, this commuter bike doesn't have a quick release for the wheels!!

Husband: Well, if you're going to commute on it, you don't really need to put it in the car.  And if you are travelling by car, you probably have enough space in the car to take a shifter or two with you.

Me: Oh yeah.

Chain guards

I just read from a comment on a blog post that the full chain guards aren't available on bikes with derailleurs, so that answers my question of whether to get one of those.  

(ie. No.  Because my second bike must have gears.)

(Hehe, but maybe my 4th or 5th bike will be a single speed..)

I'll just have to avoid wearing my longer dresses.  Otherwise I might actually end up in a spectacular fall.

Near miss 1 / swearing

Today I also had my first potential "getting hit by a swearing motorist".  It was actually on a confusing part of Doncaster Ave where the cycleway (in the door zone but hey, better than nothing) veers into a shared footpath.  See below.

(Google Maps)

I'm not sure if it's new.  The number of times I've seen cars drive and stop on the green part, makes me feel like something is missing from the signage and motorists are not understanding the implied behaviour required here.

Anyway, today I was riding along here and noticed a car driving up from the side street, so I slowed right down, which turned out to be the right thing to do because he sped all the way up, and must have noticed me track-standing there in the middle of the road to which he screeched to a stop on the green bit and swore quite a lot (not specifically at me, I think it was a bit more out of shock).

But I was very glad I had slowed down as clearly he was not expecting me there / nor had he noticed me approaching.

Near miss 2 / lycra

I was on the way home and had slowed down to a T intersection (from the stem of the T) to turn right and this super fast cyclist came around the left on the wrong side of the road, cutting the corner and had to swerve around to avoid me.

Being someone that rides in lycra, I don't think I'm the stereotype of what people derogatory call "the lycra clad" and I feel like there are people who behave badly in all categories of life.

So I am always thinking about what I can do to help change the attitudes towards "the lycra clad".

The only thing we have come up with is to be super nice when I'm in lycra and maybe I can be an counter-example to that stereotype.

Awesome opinion piece here - 

The curious effect of Lycra-clad cyclists on otherwise rational people: Wear Lycra, and you are likely to attracted unwarranted insults. What is it about the material which makes motorists so angry? It's so little fabric for so much abuse

"I explained that I chose Lycra because it’s the most comfortable clothing to wear on a bike. I recounted how when my wife started cycling she was determined to never wear Lycra. A few long hot rides later, she’d changed her mind completely. 

I don’t wear it to be part of a gang. I choose Lycra for the same reason I wear open-necked shirts and casual shoes: for comfort. I don’t want to look good – and believe me in Lycra I don’t look good at all – but I do want to feel good."

Oh, and in case you didn't know, this is what lycra looks like on a women.  In case you weren't sure.

(Courtesy - http://prowomenscycling.com/2013/03/13/selling-cycling-clothing-to-women/)

(Courtesy - http://www.fatcyclist.com/2013/03/05/level-13-an-open-letter-to-assos/)

Yah.  And people still wonder why the world needs equality for women.

My husband is the best husband in the world!

I came home and found that my husband got me an early Christmas present!

(It's a bike computer)

Well, to be fair, he got us an early Christmas present, because I don't need a fancy schmancy bike computer, so he got himself a new one with cadence and I got to have his old one!

He thought it would be good to give it to me now rather than waiting for Christmas, because I was probably going to get some good use out of it over the next few weeks.

I'm very excited, because this means I can see what speed I'm doing, which is good because I'm working up to the local group rides and I think I need to be able to be pedalling 30 km/hr or at least 25.  And until now, I didn't really have a way of knowing how fast I was going while I was riding.

He also bought some bike lube so I can oil my chain like I learnt on the course, and a new floor pump (we had a very very old one) so I don't have to go into cardiac arrest every time I decide to check my tyres.

I have the best husband in the world.

P.S.  I googled "pumping up a bike tyre" and found this photo.  Ah stock photos..  They capture life so well.  This is exactly what I look like when I go riding with my husband.

(dreamstime stock photos)

The universe did not want me to cycle today

We went out last night and ended up at Karaoke.

(Courtesy - random blog)

Despite this, I was still committed to doing my first La Perouse road ride with my husband at 6:30am in the morning.

Which was going to be my:

1. First un-practiced road ride (as I had driven / rode my work commute at least once before cycling it)
2. First use of Anzac Parade
3. First probably >40 km ride.

HAH!

I have never been so relieved about it raining during a morning.

Apparently my husband woke up, looked out the window and saw the most forlorn road cyclist making their way slowly up the road in the rain and decided that it was not a great weather for riding and we went back to sleep.

(From the movie Triplets of Belleville - pic from abloomsburylife.blogspot.com.au)

Now, I try to go on a long ride (around 30km) every weekend and had not done one yet so I decided to go in the afternoon.

We got our gear out of the garage.

ABC safety check - where I proceeded to test my chain by too violently kicking it off my chain ring.

Oops.

But at least having done the Bike Maintenance course, I wasn't scared and just put it back on.

So we headed off to Centennial Park.

I realised I'd forgotten to pack my spare tube etc - because it was in my commuting backpack - because my bike is so small I can only fit the light or the saddle bag on the seat post, and so I choose the light (for commuting) and usually carry the spare.

We decided if one of us flatted, we would just ride back.

On approach to Centennial Park, my husband rode away from me, which kind of annoyed me, but is kind of usual / expected for him (he doesn't like to be held back).

(Courtesy - www.albertocontadornotebook.info)

Haha :p I related my husband to Contador..

I said that I needed to go to the bathroom so he minded my bike and watched the trapeze show while I went.

Then I came out and I noticed my back tyre was flat!  ARGH!

I got pretty annoyed but proceeded to change it.

(My first pinch flat - weird though because I increased the pressure yesterday to 100psi - had probably been sitting around 90 up until this point.  Perhaps I hit something on the way to the park).

Getting bike oil EVERYWHERE.  Very sad, P.S. I think my favourite (only) bib knicks are ruined...  RUINED!! (I can be melodramatic sometimes).

I haven't worked out how to rotate photos in Blogger..

However, I was less annoyed that my husband had ridden away from me, because I guess with a flat, I probably was going quite slowly.

So, despite saying that we would head straight home, I felt like it was a waste so we did a few more laps.

In which is started to rain.

So we decided to head home.

But then it seemed like all the clouds / rain was in the East.

So we did some laps of Heffron on the way home.

(Courtesy - ridewmd.com/wpblog/)

Yay!  So despite this morning not happening, the pinch flat and the rain, I ended up doing 38km so I was pretty happy with that all in all.

It looks like it's going to rain tomorrow so I might give the bike a miss tomorrow.  

1 week left to Christmas holidays!  Husband bought Mars Bars ice creams as they were on sale to eat over the holiday season. It's already been a few hours of restraining me from eating them and it just feels mean.