Bicycle Race

Well it finally happened. After 3 or 4 years of looking, getting close, only to have financial priorities change at the last minute, I'm finally the proud owner of a road bike!  After shopping various stores in the area, competitive prices that included a professional fitting brought me to NeboRidge Bicycles and a 2009 Cannondale Synapse 5 compact.

The stars were kind of aligned this time. No appliances needed repair or replacement,  I've been dealing with this running injury and Will got a used Trek 1000 road bike and has been riding like a fiend. It took me a couple of visits to the shop to get finalize everything and bring the bike home. First I just talked about my riding and looked at the inventory options in my price range. The next trip was for test riding a half dozen different models to get frame geometry, sizing, and component group figured out. The exact bike had not been built, so there was a short delay before being followed by a visit to do a longer shake down ride and bring the bike home. Of course due to my schedule I couldn't complete the outfitting process. I had to go back one last time to get Look Classic clipless pedals and Shimono road shoes. Way too many $$$ later, I was done outfitting (at least for this year). I groan a little bit when I think about the cost, but then realize this equipment will last me a long time as opposed to the 3-4 pairs of running shoes that I go through every year.

After getting all the gear I was out for a 9 mile ride that went well, but left me with slightly numb toes toward the end. After dinner, Will drug me out for another 5 miler. Of course he had to look like Lance with calf high socks, I just went with lows. I ended up with numb toes again. After talking with the guys at Nebo, they said that is often because the ball of the foot is behind the spindle of the pedal. They suggested I move the cleats further back on the shoes before we try switching sizes or shoes, that may be all it takes.

Update: I went on the NeboRidge/CIBA Thursday night group training ride this week. That was my first experience with group riding and it was awfully fun! I went in the 3rd group and we did 26 miles at an average speed of 18.5 mph. I know that isn't breaking any speed records, but it is the fastest I have ridden and I was amazed at the relative ease of the effort. I did adjust my cleats before the ride and had less issues with numb toes, but did still experience a  little. Just something I'm going to have to watch as I ride more and hopefully it can be dialed out in the fit process.

I'm looking forward to sharing many more rides with Will, both on our own, as well as in group rides from NeboRidge.

Artist for Song in Title: Queen (Okay, so I know that this one is a big cop out, but it fits.)

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