I just started a new job in Carlsbad, CA, about 70 miles from where I live. I’ve found out that a train will take me from nearby Corona to Oceanside and that the train station there is only 9 miles from my work. So I’ve decided to explore biking from that train station to my new office. I see a lot of potential benefits in doing this:
- for exercise
- to variety (I don’t think I’ll do this every day)
- to have a little time to read or work on the train (I can’t do that while driving)
The problem is that I haven’t ridden a bike since I was a teenager. I have run for much of my life. I do work out at the gym, not religiously, but I get there often enough to keep reasonably fit. Over the last five years, I’ve even taken to swimming a little after workouts and even though I’ve had no formal training, I think I do OK. But biking? I’ve never gotten into it at all. I’m not sure that I can ride 9 miles. I have no idea how long it will take me to ride 9 miles. I don’t know how I’ll feel after riding 9 miles. So, besides a little Internet research, I’m going to begin to talk to anyone I know who has some biking knowledge and I’m going to record my journey here.
Get Fitted
The first person I’ve spoken to about my interest is a new co-worker, Gabe, who I noticed came into the office recently on his bike. He rides in early in the morning and I think he commutes about 5 or 6 miles. I noticed that he has special shoes that attach to the pedals. Gabe told me that the most important thing to do is to get fitted so I know what size bike to buy. Makes sense.
My First Bike Shop Visit
I stopped at Free Wheeling, a bike shop in my town and inquired. They specialize in a line called Trek Bikes. They look pretty nice and they’re not expensive. I rode one for a bit and it felt OK. I learned that it’s a good idea to buy the padded pants. That’s one of the things that I’ve been concerned about. I don’t like how the seats cut off the blood supply to your crotch. I’m not planning on having any more kids but, well, you know. I just don’t like the idea of breaking those parts of me.
Body Geometry Seats
So if I get into this, I’m going to get those pants and I’ve decided that one of my top priorities will be to get a seat that doesn’t cut off my blood supply. The one that looks most appealing to me is the Body Geometry seats made by Specialized. They actually have a sort of fitting that depends on the width of your pelvic bones, etc. This all sounds like a great idea and worth the money to me. Here’s their site:
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/ftb/saddles
They make them for men and women and range from $30 to about $300 or $400 dollars. I saw a video at the Specialized.com site that showed the benefits and how they fit. It appears that Incycle on Mountain Avenue in Ontario carries this line. I’ll have to check if they do the seat fittings. I’m going to do it if it’s not completely unreasonable in cost.
Here’s one of those seats. I definitely like the look and design of this seat. I suppose I’ll have to try it to know for sure.
Taking A Ride
I’ve decided that before I spend any money on this, I have to borrow a bike and see how far I can go. I just don’t want to spend thousands on a bike and equipment before I even know what it feels like to ride 5 or 10 miles. If it’s going to completely exhaust me before work than it’s not going to be very practical. So I reached out to a few friends and one of my old friends, Fred, has a modest 2 speed road bike that’s relatively new that he said I could borrow. I picked it up last night and after all my Sunday chores I took it out for a ride on Butterfield Ranch Road. I rode from my house to Picasso Avenue which turned out to be a total of 6 miles. The grade was reasonably hard. There were inclines and declines. When I got back I was tired. My legs were tired. But I wasn’t completely beat and I now know that with a little conditioning, I can do this. The ride took me 30 minutes. So I estimate that if I get a real bike, and get into condition, I can do a 9 mile ride in about 45 minutes or less. I can do this. So I’m going to return Fred’s bike and start researching and shopping.
Getting Egged
By the way, one-third through this ride, a pickup truck with a few chicken kids in it stopped ahead of me and let me pass. Then after I passed them, they rode by and egged me. How about that for my first bike ride in 20 years? It looked like they really got a kick out of it. It didn’t stop me. I’m kind of glad it happened. It made me realize that you have to watch out for anything out there. I’m sure that at 7:00 AM, these types of kids won’t be out. But I am concerned about morning commuters who are texting while driving, etc.,. I’m not going to care how I look too much. I’m going to buy equipment that is very visible. I suppose this can make me more susceptible to another egging but the odds are in my favor against that happening again soon. Besides, egging is less dangerous and might even be less common than getting hit by a driver who is texting.
Calculating Your Own Fitting
What I’ve written so far is kind of the back story in my quest. I’m going to continue to write about this and publish the experience when I’m done. One thing I learned tonight is that I may not actually have to go be fitted for the whole thing. Ehow.com published a nice article that helps you measure for the size bike you want. I’m 5’10” and my inseam is about 31 inches, so it looks like I need a bike about 56-58 centimeters in size.
Here’s the chart and the article link:
Riding Bikes As a Trial
A friend of mine from church also told me that there is a place in Anaheim off of Imperial Highway by the 91 that allows you to give them your license and ride bikes around their parking lot. He also told me that Incycle actually lets you rent bikes; really good ones. I’ll probably do that too. Good night.
