I Now Own A Road Bike: Allez Sport 2008

I suppose this was a long time coming.

When Steve first took up road biking, he would sing its praises for hours on end (and in fact, he still does). Once I tried it, he said, I’d never look back. But I never had an interest. After all, I had a mountain bike. And I liked my mountain bike, because it let me go wherever I liked. A road bike, I would tell him, was too restricting in what I could do. And too expensive. And too demanding of my time (those 100km rides? Forget it). And. And. And.

But Steve persisted. And I could tell my attitude was changing because after I few beers I was soon thinking about it, instead of making fun of Steve vociferously, which is what I usually did.

I think the final straw was when I decided I was starting to look … rubbery. I’m not significantly overweight but I haven’t shed that 10-15 pounds I gained after my knee surgery. I wasn’t losing it by playing ultimate and softball once a week, mixed in with the occasional 7k run. I couldn’t get myself outside to run on a regular basis because I just found it a pain in the ass. I needed something else to motivate me to get outside on a more regular basis.

Enter the shiny new road bike.

After some test runs and a bunch of calls made by Steve on my behalf, we ended up at Chain Reaction Bicycles on Dundas Street West. And before I knew it, I was the owner a Specialized Allez Sport road bike.

I bought the sucker on Tuesday and went in Wednesday to get fit. I also picked up  a new helmet, some shoes, pedals and jersey… and an hour after I walked in on Wednesday, I rode out with the bill stuck down my shirt.

Steve and I then met up with Ross, and the three of us rode around the west end for a while - probably 30 clicks in all. To me, the toughest adjustments from a mountain bike were:

• Getting used to the crazy speed you can build fast
• The ultralight nature of a road bike, which makes you feel somewhat insecure about falling when compared to a mountain bike (especially out of the saddle)
• The damn clips on your shoes. I thought I had this part down until I slowed up to an intersection and toppled over. They say everyone does that once …

Once it was over I honestly felt like I’d just completed a day of riding at Whistler - I wanted to eat thousands of calories and go to sleep. And I know I enjoyed it because all I can think about is when I’m going to be able to make it out again (answer: Saturday).

Incredible.

I played ultimate this weekend against a team led by a dude wearing a much larger version of my custom Donjoy Defiance knee brace. Given it was obvious he’d injured a ligament, I inquired.

“ACL?” I asked.

“Yup,” he said, looking at my knee brace. Then he gave me a high-five.

“How long since you had the surgery?” I inquired?

“December,” he said.

This dude had been playing ultimate frisbee all summer, after having the surgery in December. That means he started playing five months after the surgery.

WHAT A BAD IDEA.

I Got On A Road Bike.

So one of the reasons you haven’t seen Steve the Cyclist (hi, Steve!) much on this blog over the summer - despite the fact, er, summer is when most cycling takes place - is because he’s pouring all his time and energy into convincing me to buy a road bike. Somewhat regular readers of this blog are likely aware that I do spend a fair bit of time tooling around on a mountain bike - I own a low-end Trek hardtail - but that’s where my experience on two wheels stops.

Now, I’ve never historically been too attracted to the idea of cycling for a variety of reasons. I’m a little afraid of the cars, I can’t veer off into a field if I want to, most cyclists I know have fallen off and smashed their faces in at some point and frankly I find the tight pants and leg shaving somewhat odd. But I put all this aside Friday night and decided to get on a road bike. I figured there’s not much mountain biking in my new town, plenty of good places to cycle, and I’ve gained 10-15 pounds since my knee surgery a year and a half ago that I’ve never lost. Cycling, it seemed to me, would be a great way to shed that weight lickety split. So, on to a road bike I went.

We (Steve, a friend and I) pulled three bikes from the good folks at Duke’s Cycle in downtown Toronto for a road test. I don’t remember the name of the first one I tried (Steve, help me out here!) but it was a 54cm road bike with slightly larger tires for offroading. Despite the larger tires, the difference in speed was immediately apparent when compared to a mountain bike. A couple of pedals, and woosh! I was gone. It was far different from a mountain bike, which requires a fair bit of energy to get going at any considerable speed.

I then tried a more traditional road bike on a 56cm frame, which was too big. But still, I got the feel for the thinner wheels and even quicker speed. It was interesting to feel how fragile road bikes feel as well - like they could collapse underneath me with one bad move. Mountain bikes, on the other hand, feel extremely sturdy and solid.

At the end of the day I was pretty impressed. I’m thinking about picking one up next weekend, if the price is right. We’ll see. Steve will probably work me pretty hard until then!

Answer Your Damn Wrist: The Cell Phone Snowboard Glove

Everyone knows what a pain in the ass it can be to bring your cell phone on the hill. Answering a call mid-run is damn near impossible by the time you take off your gloves, open your coat, locate your phone and answer it. And have you ever taken a spill on your phone, causing you to not only worry about your phone but curse the bruise you just gave yourself in the ribs?

Well, I found this via CNet today: Swany Gloves. Swany’s g.cell glove is a ski/snowboard glove with a Bluetooth-enabled, adaptable cell phone inside. When you get a call, your wrist vibrates. Want to talk? The speaking and listening devices are integrated right into the palm and thumb.

No word if it will fit over my wristguards.

Suggested retail price will be $495 USD. According to Swany, look for it around the holiday season.

Here’s a picture of the glov. Cooool.