New bike

In celebration of Bike to Work Day, last Thursday I bought a new bike. However I wasn’t actually able to bike to work on Bike to Work Day (I was on call and needed to haul some equipment that day).

The last time I bought a bike was in 2002; a $30 bike from Target. I rode it a little, but in general I got exactly what I paid for, and its main use became a Burning Man bike. Moving to the top of a big hill in 2004 didn’t help matters. But now I live closer to work (and more importantly, it’s a relatively flat ride to work), and, inspired by pdx6’s post, I dusted off the bike and saw if I could make it to work and back (this was at about 10PM, mind you). I could, but my body didn’t like me for it.

However, I did feel like I could do better with A) more exercise, and B) a better bike, particularly one with a seat that wouldn’t kill my butt. After a little research and a few recommendations (all conflicting of course; the bike community are basically as vocal and opinionated as Linux nerds, see jwz’s post on the matter), I bought a 2008 Giant Sedona aluminum from High Sierra Cycling.

After a weekend of breaking it in, the difference between the old Target bike and the Giant is like night and day. So on Sunday afternoon I took the plunge and tested riding to work during the day. I still ache and was a lot more winded from the heat (about 95F), but it was definitely a better ride, especially in the posterior region, if you know what I mean.

Oh, BTW, it’s about a 5 mile route from my home to work, each way. Here’s the route I take.

Now, I just have to keep this up. I won’t be riding tomorrow, since I need to drive (ugh) more equipment downtown tomorrow morning, but I plan to ride to work Tuesday. The day of rest should be good.