As Easy As Riding A Bike

Happy Saturday everyone! I hope you all had a relaxing and fun day!

After spending the past two and a half days fully immersed with all things #NASATweetup related (with roughly 6-7 hours of sleep total), I was EXHAUSTED!

Needless to say that I crashed hard last night and didn’t wake up until 9:45! I almost got a full 10 hours of sleep and boy did I need it!

Yesterday I actually decided to go home (as in not Jacksonville ) to visit my parents for the evening so it was nice to wake up in my childhood bedroom. Once I emerged out of bed, I ate breakfast, had a little heart-to-heart with my parents, and then (somehow!) convinced them to go look at road bikes with me.

For a good 6-7 months, I have been in the market for a road bike. I have read numerous blogs and articles online about different bikes, how to find the correct size, etc, etc. I also searched Craigslist for used bikes but nothing stood out to me, so I put the search on the back back burner for a little.

A few weeks ago, my interest for a road bike peaked again when I found that I could not run due to my ankle injury. After a few weeks of going back and forth between a road bike and a new camera (my current camera has seen better days), I decided that the road bike would be more useful for my current fitness goals.

So today my parents and I hit two local bike shops to do a little research.

Even though I have read up a lot on road bikes, I still know nothing about them! At the first store, James (the sales associate) explained a lot about what to look for in a beginners road bike including the frame, handlebars, gears, etc. It really opened my eyes and I learned more in the 20 minutes we spent talking to him than I did with months of research.

Unfortunately the lowest priced bike at the store was a bit out of our price range. For road bikes, they rarely sell used bikes (and the used bikes they do receive and bought almost immediately), so we decided to hit up another store in town before I had to leave for Jacksonville.

The second store had a bit more promise. Walking in, I thought that all of the bikes would be out of my price range. The only used bikes I saw were mountain bikes! However, we decided to look around the store and talk with the sales associate.

Immediately my eyes fixed on a pretty blue bike hanging in the corner. The associate talked about the specs of the bike and how it is great for a beginner (like myself). I was scared to hear the price but pleasantly surprised to hear that it was on sale and I would even receive a 5% discount (due to the fact that a former employee of the store used to be my track coach in high school! Woot!) With the sale and discount, it puts the bike $14 over my upper limit budget for the bike…not too shabby!

They let me test out the bike in the parking lot, which was a little bit of a challenge since I was clearly not in proper attire (jean shorts and flip flops anyone?).

However, once I got up on the bike, it felt pretty good!- it had a smooth ride!

Admittedly, I was more worried about crashing the bike than anything (you break it, you buy it!) but I really liked the bike. I promise I was having fun, despite the look I have on my face.

PSA- Wear a helmet. I do wear a helmet when I bike ride, but I had no way of wearing one for the test ride. I only rode the bike for 30-40 feet.

I could have walked out of the store with it today, but instead my parents and I opted to put it on hold for a few days and do a little more research. This is a huge purchase and I don’t want to rush into anything!

That doesn’t mean that I haven’t been looking up sprint triathlons/ bike races for the past few hours, you know, just in case.

After some more research tonight, I really do like the bike. The only thing that scares me is that it is a brand new bike and I know some may think it is stupid for me to jump to buying a new bike (verses used). However, I would rather purchase a new bike from a store where I can get properly fitted, set up, and have lifetime maintenance service verses buying the bike used (off Craigslist) and then later finding out there is a huge problem with the bike.

There are pros and there are cons to every situation… so we will see how this pans out.

Night!