The Snagster made her debut!

So all nerves aside, and after reading some very inspiring Quotes from my lovely Seema, I put my bike, my bike shoes, my helmet, my water bottle and my Garmin in the van and headed to the Park yesterday. The weather was sunny but quite windy (I think 10 degrees but not sure what it translated to with the windchill) so I layered with warm gear as you often feel much colder on a bike then if you were running. I even had some of my winter gloves along just in case!

Got to the park in the early part of the afternoon, and parked in a location next to grass so I could manage the clip in. Thank goodness there were very few people to witness the spectacle. The good new was that I did not fall, but it felt like it took me an hour to get my shoes clipped to the pedal. I suspect this will get easier as I get more used to it, but my bike shoe clips are very different then the clips I use for my spin bike. They are positioned differently on the shoe, so I am going to believe that is why I was having such difficulty.

Once I was on my Snagster, I have to say I felt very comfortable. She weighs a grand total of 18lbs and as corny as this may sound, Snagster felt like an extension of me while I was riding her. When I tried out road bikes last summer, I have to say that they certainly did not feel as good as Snagster. I felt wobbly and scared to take corners and go down anything resembling a hill. Oh and unike Bart (my mountain bike), she is light and has way more speed. The one thing Bart has going for him though has to do with butt issues. Way easier to ride a mountain bike over bumps than a road bike!

This was definitely a good experience in my books as it has boosted my confidence. I am so thankful for Mr. C who fit me on the bike. It was well worth the time it took for him to measure my limbs, take into account my height and weight and assess my flexibility. For anyone serious about getting into cycling-it is completey worth the money to do this!

I cycled easily for approx 55 minutes, and also practiced using my gears. I left the front gear in the largest ring while I fiddled aroung with my 10 rings on the back. I was worried that if I start changing my front and back at the same time, I would get too confused. The lesson I learned quickly is to ensure that you are in a harder gear going down hill and easier gear going up so that you can maintain a consistent cadence. I also learned that you can save a lot of enery and be way more efficient if you can master the whole gear changing thing. And, since I live in an incredibly windy city, I learned that you never ever feel like the wind is at your back!

According to my Garmin- the distance I cyled was 11 and a bit miles. I thought that was pretty good considering I was not even breaking a sweat. Then again maybe I was and the wind just caused it to immediately evaprorate. I also have to re-look at my speed and cadence sensor as I am not sure if it is correctly synched. Crap I hate having to figure out computer related issues!

Last but not least, I must say that I also wore my Oakley half jacket sunglasses that were purchased on Ebay for a steal by a computer savant (you know who you are LOL!) They are fantastic, kept my eyes from tearing and bugs out and helped me to see great in the sun and shade with no fogging or slipping. Another piece of gear that I would highly reccomend. Oh and they are fashionable too LOL!