2012 Giant Defy 5 - I'm just burnin', doing the new bike dance!

Regular readers of this blog (all 2 of you) might remember that I found my dream bike at Valley Cycles back in October. After months of scrimping and saving, I finally brought it home!

Dave, the owner of Valley Cycles, gave me a fantastic deal on this bike; just an unbeatable bargain. He made sure the bike was fitted properly and that I would be comfortable while riding it (as any good bike shop should do) then gave the drivetrain a good adjustment and had me ride it around in the parking lot for a bit. Everything was just as it was several months ago, when I first took this bike for a test ride -- just a few good cranks, and I was blasting off. I couldn't wait to get this thing home and go for an extended ride.

My first ride around town was a short, 2-mile sprint. This is my first "real" road bike, so I have to take some time to adjust to the drop bars and reaching for the brake levers. All in all, I only almost killed myself twice.

The side-streets in Hazleton are a mess. Many still have piles of snow on them and even the ones that don't have a fresh coating of gravel on them, making the ride an unsure one as the thin tires try to grip the pavement. I hate to admit that I didn't exactly engage in the most safe riding practices, either. It's been a while since I've ridden in heavy traffic, and my skills have deteriorated a bit.

The thing that surprised me was the number of drivers who waved me through intersections and patiently waited for me to cross streets -- and this was even as traffic was ramping up for rush hour. Maybe Hazleton is becoming more bike-friendly? Certainly not the streets, but the drivers are at least less willing to throw things at me.

I'm happy to report that the Defy ascends like a dream. Even after sitting out from serious riding for a few weeks, I was tackling challenging hills with with ease and grace. The bike is aluminum, but still the lightest bike I've ever owned. Seriously, it shocks me how light the bike is.

Snow was beginning to fall as I headed home, but that didn't stop from taking some time to make a Vine video, celebrating that "new bike" smell.

Another notable thing about yesterday's ride was that I was able to squeak it in right before February was over. My commitment to make at least one ride a month, no matter the weather conditions, remains in tact!

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Welcome to Mountain Top. Here, have a flat tire.

First ride of the year, and the first significant ride in weeks. The predicted temperature was supposed to be in the 60s, but after weeks of freezing in the 20s, I decided to take what I could get. Upper 30s/lower 40s? Sure, why not?! And so began a 50 mile ride. Or so I had hoped.

I work for a computer repair shop in Mountain Top, PA called NEPA Geeks, which is just under 20 miles from where I live. My plan was to do a trial ride and see what it would be like to commute by bike. Also, to pop in and say, "Hi!" to my boss, Jason Percival, who was working today. And then there was the Dunkin' Donuts a few blocks from work... Hey, you need to restore glucose if you don't want to bonk, right? So, off I went.

Being a bit out of shape, and carrying a few extra holiday pounds, I certainly wasn't charging up hills like I was a month ago. Even then, I was hardly one of those guys who'd shift it into the big ring and stand out of the saddle. I honestly don't know how those guys do it... I'm fine with just sitting down and peddling a little faster in the granny gears, especially since this is supposed to be a commute to work, not an intense, 4 hour workout. As long as I get where I'm going, I'm happy. And I was going pretty good, until I heard the dreaded hiss of an inner-tube, rapidly deflating.

12.7 miles into my effort, just as I was rolling past the "Welcome to Mountain Top" sign, as seen at the top of this post, it happened; another inner-tube bites the dust. I blame gravel. Well, I blame myself for not inserting something to cover the hole in the front tire from the last time I had a blowout, but I blame the gravel for getting into the hole and cutting the tube. That is, if that's what happened. I didn't really inspect the damage, I just started walking as I texted my boss.

As luck would have it, he wasn't even at the office -- he'd left an hour early this week. D'oh! The next part of the tale is pretty amazing, though, because after texting Jason to let him know I was a bit stranded at the side of the road, he came all the way back from getting pizza at Maroni's in Scranton just to give me a ride back to Hazleton. Can this guy get any more awesome?

One day, I will make my goal and commute to work by bike. Just not today. Also, invest in a patch kit and frame pump. Let this be my lesson to you.

Hey, look! I figured out how to embed Strava results in a blog post!

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Drop Bar Envy

I have drop bar envy, which can be the only explicable reason for why I did this:

Drop bars on a mountain bike.

I bought this mountain bike at a garage sale for $15. My original intention was to take the wheels and drive train off and put them on my project bike, but they don't fit. So, instead, I took the drop bar off the road bike and put it on this bike. Bad idea?

After spending the better part of the weekend running new cables and installing new brakes, I was able to take it for a ride. It's really not that uncomfortable, despite my worry that the geometry would be problematic. I'm even thinking of getting a set of slick tires. The only problem is that it's heavy, which is why I wanted a light, nimble road bike in the first place. Hence: drop bar envy.

I just love the look, the curve and the feel of drop bars, and I don't go off-roading enough to justify having a mountain bike with knobby tires. I want to go fast, and I only want to ride on the street. Unfortunately, after I priced out new parts for the road bike -- which is now sitting in the garage, sans handlebars -- I realized I was going to end up spending a small fortune, and I was afraid that it won't make the bike any better. Instead of having a nice, quick bike, I'm afraid that I'm going to end up with a junk bike that just happens to have new parts. New wheels, new drivetrain; same old, rusted out frame. If I could find enough junk bikes to supply me with the working parts I need, I would keep at it. I just can't justify spending money on expensive, new parts for it.

All I want is a nice, quick, lightweight road bike, and I'm beginning to think that saving up and buying a new one is the only way to go and still keep it affordable.

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