I feel much better today, fortunately, and had no problem getting out of bed and going for a spin on the bike. Doing only four miles, I made some discoveries.
On the positive side, the bike is remarkably comfortable. Even the stock seat is pretty decent. I can't believe how much better the ride is than on my old bike, which shouldn't come as a total surprise given the larger wheels, but it's fairly dramatic. The shifting is smooth, and I really like the trigger shifting. While not super light, it doesn't feel like I'm carrying a huge steel thing around either.
On the negative side, my body frustrates me. My head remembers how I used to ride, muscling up a hill quickly, but my body isn't even in the neighborhood of working that well. I have to adjust and lower my expectations because I'm out of shape. It'll take awhile to get myself back to a place where I can naturally ride the way I used to.
So while I found myself climbing a slight hill at a sad 9 mph, it sure felt good going down it at 22 mph. On flat land I had no problem going around 14. The bike handles really well, and it feels good.
Watch the seat. Mine was stolen one time (which made for a really interesting ride home). Replacing it was expensive (needed the seat post and saddle) and the new seat is inferior.
9 mph isn't bad at all Jeff, especially on those hills.
Most bike commuters travel an average of 10 mph on city streets, which include stops at stop signs and lights.
Whatever keeps you biking, at any speed, is going to boost your health. And you'll see a difference.
Keep it up!
So if you ride to the store you would just carry the bike in your hip pocket?
My bike stupidly came with a quick adjust for the seat, as if I change size on a daily basis. After the seat theft, I replaced it with a bolt.
Um, yeah... and if you knew where Jeff lived you'd know biking there to "do errands" is NOT a good idea. It's scary running, walking, hell even driving outside his subdivision. Sadly, in Ohio there are no accomodations for people who want to ride their bikes around town.
Not every inch of Ohio is impossible to bike in and wihtout any indication that you, unfortunately, live in a car dendendent area, we can't assume anything. Maybe you could have said something instead of serving up pissy responses.
The piss-poor job we have done building so-called "communities" in this country over the past 50-60 years is nothing short of appalling. The car dependency built into nearly fabric of life is a real obstacle towards adopting alternative transportation, be it biking, walking, or public transit.