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This afternoon I went out with Michelle for a nice easy ride. Since she rides a MTB I left the Synapse in the Garage and rode my MTB as well. What a difference! Right away I noticed how much cushier the seat as and how much harder it was to get the bike going and keep it going. We took back roads into the center of town and after a quick hydration stop road back home. Since it was just a six mile ride I decided to hop on the Synapse and do some extra miles. The double yellow street that mine connects to has nice wide shoulders and makes for a safe 6.6 mile ride if I turn around at each end. It is all rolling hills so it allowed me to work on accelerating up long mild grades, and in the end I went an additional ten miles.

I've always liked competition, and part of the reason I bought the bike was to start racing but I have to admit I'm crazy sacred to try. When I was running the difference between the top end shoes and the bottom end really didn't matter in terms of performance. When I rowed crew great gear made a difference, but when you sat down on an ergometer everyone was on a level playing field. I feel with bike racing the difference between the low end and the top end in terms of performance is pretty huge. Combine that with the fact that I just started biking and it becomes evident that any race I enter won't end well.

Still, when I ran Cross-Country I came in dead last in a number of races. Between asthma induced from the running, and a body built more for speed than distance I just plodded along. I kept doing it because I enjoyed it. I think that's the attitude that I'm going to try and take into bike racing. I may come in dead last, but for now I'm competing with myself. Maybe next year after a winter of conditioning I'll be ready to be more serious in the spring.

I've been reading up a bunch on the different types of bike tires available. Right now I have Shimano WH-R550 Clincher Wheels that came with the bike. They seem solid and since they're the fastest I've ever owned, they're good enough for now. I'll probably keep my eyes peeled for a good deal on better tires but I'm not in a rush to buy any right now. Reading a lot of the various tire reviews it seems that the people that have the biggest problems are the biggest people. Being light weight I think I can get away with using low spoke tires that don't seem to work for other people.

There is a 50k road race up in Bow NH that I think I may try and do. This Saturday's ride was hard but gave me confidence that I could finish such a race at a respectable speed. I would assume that most of the other people in the Cat 5 race would be newbies like me, so I don't think I'd be to outclassed. We'll see how this week goes, and I'll make a decision by Thursday of next week.

The Food Log
Glass of Water - 9
Breakfast - 4 Pieces of French Toast with Maple Syrup
Lunch - Chicken Tenders
Dinner - Beef Lasagna with fresh Mozzarella, Spinach, and Green Beens Glass of Chocolate Milk