Tina's cycling adventure - personal blog

So I hope this is good way to keep my cycling memories. I will use this thread to highlight the important moment and cycling feedback.

Yesterday, I visited several stores, and after I did some investigation, I finally decided on my bike:
Wilier's carbon frame + Shimano 105 group+rim brake design. It will be almost the same as the one bike below, except it is a disc brake below. The store owner recommended XS size as I am not too tall. How do you think it as my first road bike?
I should have this in stock within one week, later I will begin training. Any advice?

 

I am 70 now and have been riding and racing for better than 50 years. Join your local club and stay active. Then enter races if you want. Between the two you will have great experiences.

 

You have a great bike! I have a similar one, but now the weather does not allow me to ride for pleasure))

 

I plan to join the club cycling event from next Spring For races, not in my plan yet.

 

Right now it is too cold outside, or raining, or snowing, so probably from next Spring. hope to see you around.

 

I went back home the weekend and miss picking my Bike, the store owner sent me the Bike pictures, wow, I am excited! I will go pick it during the Lunch time today! Now I got my helmet, got my meter, got the shoes, etc, and ready to go!

 

So I got my bike yesterday. My husband left me at the store, then I had the chance to cycle back home alone. I have to say, I will still have a long way to go!
Right now, I can easily go, but when I need to stop, it is a bit hard for me. Will need to practice. Also, from last night ride and this morning ride, I realize how important bike fit it is, as it seems my saddle is bit high, will need to adjust again.
Also, I feel it personally how we really need the bike shorts as well as the gloves. haha! Since I didn't wear my bike shorts for just a short distance ride, I already feel the saddle sore. And the hand will be little hurt, I really need to put the padded gloves on.

 

When you're first starting out, you sometime have to force yourself out on the bike. This is what club rides are good for. Be sure and chose a club with rides that are in your fitness category. And don't worry about being the last one into the rest stops. You can go along like that for months and then out of a clear blue sky, you're keeping up with the leaders. In the springtime I an usually quite slow and a tail ender. Then suddenly the hills stop being hard and I discover that without trying harder I'm keeping up again. Even with the lockdown I did over 5,000 miles last year and over 118,000 feet of climbing. But it was a dry previous winter.

Your bike looks good and 105 us in my opinion, the most cost effective group. I have had new Dura Ace Groups that weigh nearly the same and cost 3 times as much. And doing a lot of climbing on Dura Ace "hollow tech" cranks can break them. No such problems with the 105.

One of the things you'll have to watch out for is if the bike actually fits you. Many times the top tube is too long for women who tend to have longer legs, shorter torsos and arms. This can put a strain on your shoulders and give you pain. But it is very difficult to say for a beginner who is going to have shoulder pain and butt pain as a matter of course. If you find yourself having to stand on the pedals and stretch your back with pain or tiredness in your lower back you probably have to shorten the stem at the least. I am not familiar with Willier measurements so I don't know if it will become a problem. Also saddle height is very important and you should find a shop with a "fitting machine" to find the proper saddle height.

On the other hand perhaps the shop you went to had a good mechanic that could look at you, take a couple of measurements and set it up near perfect. So don't be bothered until there is a reason to be bothered.

 

One thing I might suggest - Trek/Bontrager makes a helmet designed to actually work. They are called "Wavecell" helmets. I have had a serious concussion and am very sensitive to any further head injuries. Since getting my Wavecell I have fallen down perhaps a half dozen times and wacked by head pretty good. Not only was there no effects from this but the Wavecell appears to recover to its original shape which foam helmets do not do. Of course I haven't hit really hard so with a major collision it may not recover.

So if you are in the market for a new helmet go to the nearest Trek Dealer and get one of these Bontrager Wavecell helmets. Remember that they also offer the cheaper and far less effective foam helmets as well so you have to make sure you get the right ones. If you have Wavecell there is no additional advantage of MIPS which is the helmet being rigged to rotate when you strike the ground. So the cheapest variety of Wavecell is fine.

As for my propensity to fall - I am now 77 and don't have any balance and tend to try and ride faster than my abilities. My wife and three daughters rode coast to coast 2 and a half times without falling so there's no reason to worry too much. As for traffic - you WILL get used to it. People don't want dents in their cars anymore than you want dents in your helmet.