PowerCycle

So this morning I drove down to Shark Valley in Everglades National Park for the first break-in ride. The panniers were left behind but the handlebar bag tagged along so I’d have a place to keep the DSLR. The first thing I noticed was that riding with no hands with something heavy in the handlebar bag was not a good idea. No falls but lesson learned. The Nashbar Trekking Handlebars are perfect. No numbing of the hands thanks to the 3 different grip locations. The trekking bars sit you up a little taller so there was some risk in being too close. It wasn’t actually that bad though. If need be, or if the wind picked up, I could always stretch out and use the bars farthest away. The Ergon GP1 Grips probably helped a little too.

The only thing sore for the entire 30 mile ride was my rear (did 2 loops) and that brings me to the Brooks saddle. There’s not a lot of built-in padding where the bike seat and I meet. Well, a new Brooks saddle is not comfortable. The hard plastic seat on my mountain bike seems more forgiving. Waiting for the break-in period to be over is not going to be easy. No other issues other than it was really hot (95 F and humid with a solid breeze). Someone mentioned on a web site that wool (specifically Merino wool) keeps the moisture against your skin but that the wind hitting you would have a cooling effect. One of the shirts I picked up is Merino and the thought of wearing it on the ride seemed like a heat stroke waiting to happen. All in all things went extremely well for the first small ride.