The First Ride on the New Bike

     Yesterday was my first official "ride" on the new bike.  I wanted to do a ride that was a bit challenging while still being easy enough so that I could concentrate on biking, and to more importantly get a sense of how it feels on the new bike.  So, around 10 am on Saturday I filled up my camelback in my backpack, tied my sneakers & bandana, and hit the road (Yes, I wore my helmet.) 

Man, oh man, did the Judy take a beating. 

     It had been a good 6 months since I had done a ride over 10 miles.  I think my last decent ride was in August, when I would bike to & from work, which was 20 miles away from where I lived.  I talked to Jasper and asked him where he thought would be a good ride for distance, terrain & time.  He suggested going up to Baltimore County around an area called Loch Raven.  He said there were hills and it was a pretty area.
     I ended  up only doing about 20 miles because there was an ATROCIOUS headwind that I had to constantly fight, uphill and all!  When I got about 10 miles out of town and there was yet another winding, semi-steep incline I decided I had tested the bike's handling enough.  I had to get back to see a friend's dress rehearsal for her recital and make sure I actually ate something so my body wouldn't give out.  I wimped out to be blatant...  Twenty miles, how pathetic!  Then again, 44 degrees, a headwind, and a very stiff biking seat [even w/padded pants] that you're not used to can make even the best give up a little early (at least that's what I'm telling myself). 
     Oh well, this was the first of many.  After I build up my rider's callus to this new, stiff seat I'm going to switch over to my comfier one.  I will DEFINITELY be using the other seat for the trip.  I want to do a day trip down to DC too, but I'll have to wait for more biker-friendly weather and find someone to let the pets out.  Onward!