The Bike...

For a few weeks now, I have been telling J that I plan on buying a new bike this year. My current one is a Raleigh 10 speed that my parents gave to me for my high school graduation present. It was a good bike but I am just a bit older (HA!) now and require something a little more comfortable. My plan was to just buy one from Target.

This weekend a local bike chain had their annual Bike Expo at the fairgrounds. J and I decided to go to see what else was out there. After I saw the prices on good, name brand, quality bikes, I started to balk. I didn't have that much to spend on one. J said that we still needed to go and see what else was there plus that I could get a bike to fit my body... not just pulling one off the rack at Target.

It was easy to rule out the road bikes (think Lance Armstrong) and the mountain bikes. Most of my bike riding would be on paved roads and graveled bike trails. I was deciding between the hybrid variety and the comfort variety however the comfort ones had larger angled handlebars... kind of felt like I was riding a customized Harley. So I pretty much looked among the Hybrids. I tried out quite a few but kept coming back to one in particular, a Gary Fisher. The fit of it from handlebar to body just seemed better plus the gear shifts were a thumb switch instead of a rotational turn of the handle.

The bike was definitely more than what I had planned to spend so I needed to sit and have a talk with my husband who seemed like maybe he was in a buying mood. J agreed that I need a new bike however he wanted to see me get a better one... one that would last, one that would fit my body. If I really liked this bike AND I was really going to use it, he had no problem with spending the money on a better bike. I honestly think that I will do a lot of bike riding this summer... I am in an area that riding on the roads around here is safe...plus I have access (with some car travel) to a variety of bike trails. I am more physically active and fit than any of the past few previous years. I really think that bike riding will add another dimension to my fitness activity.

So the decision was made and a bike was bought... now if only the weather would co-operate... 35 degrees is not ideal biking weather!