Valley Road Biking Roubaix Style

In case you couldn't figure it out from the title, I have just bought another road bike.  Instead of promising to give away my first born son I was able to finance it by convincing a friend of mine that the empty feeling in his heart must be the result of not having a Giant Reign.  He bought it from me, and soon after I picked up a Specialized Roubaix Elite at the local bike shop.

This bike has been a revelation.  I have been using my Giant TCX for the last nine months set up with touring tires for a road bike and it worked fairly well.  I finally decided I needed to get a dedicated road bike since I have been putting in more miles on the road each month that I have in the previous year or so.  It is hard to quantify but it seems that I get home not near as tired and sore, but have covered more miles.  Not only that, hills which used to be daunting are now done away with by out-of-the-saddle sprints.  I really feel that this bike will help me to cover more miles this winter, and enjoy myself more while doing it.

I recently found that one of my distant acquaintances was given a road bike, and he plans on getting into biking pretty seriously.  Finally someone to ride with!  Don't get me wrong, I do love the solitude and quiet of riding alone, but sometimes I would like someone to share my experiences with. Many times I am on a piece of spectacular single track with the leaves crunching under my tires, the smell of pine sap, and the brilliant sunlight piercing the canopy above and I just wish I could convey the almost spiritual experience of being not just out in nature, but fully part of it.  Nothing can make me feel more carefree and alive at the same time.

I would make this post more elaborate but this post is, ironically, cutting into my biking time.

Till next time,