Road Bike

So yesterday, early afternoon, I got an email from the bike shop letting me know that my new road bike was ready to rock. Oh man, I wanted to leave work right then but was not able to until later in the day, rush hour traffic time none-the-less, but I was still thankful that I was able to leave a few minutes earlier than normal, haul ass and manage to make it to the bike shop in time to pick up my new toy. Based on prior posts, if you were not aware what my new toy is - it's a 2012 Lapierre Sensium full carbon fiber road bike.

Anyway, once there I immediately threw on my awesome new clipless shoes (that even have the BOA lace up system like my snowboard boots do, woot!) and started the process of getting fitted into my pedals, making seat adjustments - up/down, forward etc., and within 25 to 45 minutes it was mostly ready to ride as far as the initial set-up goes.

That said; there is much more set-up than I had with my mountain bike and honestly I was completely blown away by this. I figured that I would show up, put my shoes on and learn how to get clipped into the pedals and out, learn a little about the way the shifting and handling works on this bike and ride away. Yep, that was totally not the case. But the shop did an awesome job helping me out, explaining everything and getting me comfortable with all the newness.

There are all sorts of centering and adjustments that need to be done to make sure you're not only at the right position but your legs are pumping correctly so you don't develop knee problems, hip problems and so on.

Anyway, I am super stoked to have it in the garage and ready to ride. Tomorrow I will go pick up my kick-ass new helmet along with the purchase of a .... Drum roll please .... Garmin Edge 810 GPS / data logger. This bike computer is going to be so awesome and a lot of fun to use when riding. I am getting mounts for both my mountain bike as well as my road bike so that I can track everything I ride on each. I was on the fence whether to get the 510, 810 or 1000.

I was leaning toward the 1000 thinking if I get what they are touting as "their top of the line" model I would be set for a long time. Most of the features it had above and beyond the 810 were things I did not really care about so much when on the bike (getting phone messages, text messages etc., on the 1000 if my smart phone was linked via Bluetooth).

When I am out riding those are are a few of the things I do not want to be focusing on. The 510 was another great option, but there were a few features missing that I wanted so in the end I went middle of the road of the 3 and bought an 810. I think I will be happy with it for a really long time.

Apps & Social Linkage

There is a really cool app / social media site that goes by the name of Strava. It is a very cool website and social media hot-spot for active individuals. Some of the cool highlights is that it tracks things like cycling, running and so on.

You can upload your activity as well as your speed, time, intervals, distance, weather and so on. Friends can either download your map and take the same route to try the ride or you can try to beat that persons time and so on. It makes the whole experience and hobby that much more fun.

There is also something that people do to try and be the best of the best on a particular route. It's called KOM and what that means is King Of The Mountain. Basically you are the champion and have the fastest time, speed or related for that particular map. Works for both mountain biking as well as road biking too. Although there seems to be around 4 or 5 times more road bike routes.

I will have to modify my account a little if I start sharing data. I don't want peeps to know every little thing about me like weight and so on - yea call me what you will, don't care. Plus there is an option for a pro account that runs $60 or so and gives you even more data and related - right up my alley!

At the moment I have been using another app called Runtastic Mountain Bike that I also have previously paid for a pro account on as well, well they call theirs a "gold" account. The app is on the iPhone only, does not require a dedicated GPS device like the Garmin Edge 810 I just picked up for $500, well nor does Strava, but there is a lot more you can do if you do have a dedicated device vs. only a smart phone as I am quickly finding out.

On top of all of the good the other "pro" is that I don't want to beat the crap out of my iPhone all the time or risk losing it when using it for my GPS and routing device. I have had my iPhone for quite a while, take it everywhere and all over the world. Not a scratch on it until the 3rd time I took it out mountain biking - I now have a nice divot in the screen, dammit!

My Dogs Are Barking

Anyway more on all of this later, I am beat! I set a goal for myself today to attempt to reach at least 20,000 steps on my fitbit and as of a little after 8:00 PM I hit and passed that goal, HELL YEAH BITCHES that's how it's done! While a massive amount of steps, yet only logging in at 9.2 miles, it's a fantastic feeling to know that I accomplished it. Watch out 25k here I come! (maybe)

Photo: My new Lapierre Sensium 400 full carbon fiber bike. Upgraded carbon wheels, carbon neck, carbon seat post, carbon bars, etc., etc. This thing is lighter than my iPhone, diggin' it!