Hammer Down

I was off the bike again for 4 days. No real excuses.....just 4 rest days in a row. Honestly, I was stuck in a small tailspin from the Easter weekend. Since it was Thursday I planned on throwing the bike on the car and taking Megan to dance. The girls were playing at a friends house and Chelle wanted to go see Meg dance so I loaded up the bike and rode home, leaving Chelle to bring Meg home. That works!

The route was straight south out of Fennville down to Pullman and back into Allegan. The wind was surely blowing south to southeast because I was flying. I felt like someone lit a rocket on my bike. The thing was, I kept my heart rate high and I was still working hard. Sure I had wind assistance, but I was making sure that I powered along with the wind to get higher speeds. Funny thing was....most of the flags that I saw were just fluttering...not really twisting from the wind. The only reason I know it was blowing was from the part of the route that took me back north into Allegan. Talk about feeling like dragging a bag of cement....the wind was just enough to push my heart rate even higher. Overall, the ride was care free. Only one idiot in a truck honked at me...and he was actually coming towards me....so he honked just to be a douche bag. The roads I ride have large shoulders, but everyone still gave plenty of room. Thank you citizens of Allegan County for having some respect for cyclists. Overall a speedy (for me) 23 mile blast on the Defy. Felt good to get out and blow out any tension that I had been harboring.

It wasn't until this morning that I got thinking about my new road bike. The road bike I borrowed last year was, and is, very nice. The problem is that it is old and a smidge too small for me. My new bike fits me much better and is AWESOME. I want to thank my beautiful wife yet again for bringing it home to me. I was teetering between the aluminum and carbon versions and Chelle decided for me! She brought me home the Carbon Defy ! I want to thank Dan again too....for keeping the secret that she was buying it for me. It was a total surprise. Back to the bike.....it is just comfortable. I probably still need to dial it in some as far as fit goes, but the ride is way different than the borrowed road bike. Both are carbon, but the Defy is new carbon and one piece. The other is carbon too, but it has the connection lugs made out of either steel or aluminum. I noticed I would still get a lot of vibration in my hands and would have to change positions on the bar frequently. With the Defy I almost have to make myself change positions because I don't feel any vibrations or discomfort. This bike will be a great training tool this year and for years to come.

Back on target. Yankee is in 9 days.....