Speed. I am speed!

Well, at least at 25 mph.

If you've been bored and looked around my blog recently, you may have noticed a link to the tyler bike club on the interweb and wondered to yourself "what's this here for?" It's actually become a high-traffic link for me lately. You see, my latest passion has become cycling these days. Well, actually call it a renewed interest that has turned into a passion. In high school, I had an old 10 speed that I rode 3 or 4 nights a week with my dad. When I went away to college, the 10 speed road bike got traded for a mountain bike, which was good for campus commuting. Now that I live in Tyler, there aren't mountain biking trails to speak of without driving a ways, but there are plenty of roads. So, I've turned to the road again and really love it. For a while I was riding my old bike and searching for a new racing style road bike -- you know, the kind with the curvy handlebars? I shopped on the internet, went to the local bike shops, and even spent 1/2 a day at bike shops in Dallas one weekend. My problem was that I wanted a high dollar bike for not a high price. These bikes can reach a few Gs very quickly. I finally found a nice used one through a friend of a friend and bought it about 3 weeks ago. Here's a stock photo of the bike. I'll try to post a real pic when I take the time to shoot one.

It's a nice ride - especially for the price. If you're not into biking, please bear with some tech speak for a moment: full carbon fiber frame, shimano 105 complete set (derailleurs, shifters, brakes, crankset, pedals), mavic ksyrium wheels, airborn fizik wing flex saddle, 2 carbon bottle cages, cateye wireless computer, front & rear lights and about 12oo miles on it. Anyway, it makes me happy.

The Tyler Bike Club has group rides throughout the week in the evenings and a large group ride every Saturday morning at 8 am. For the past 2 Saturday mornings I've been hitting the pavement with about 20 other folk leaving Faulkner Park and heading south through the back roads to Bullard. Once we get there, most folks stop for a breather at a little greasy spoon. Some have a quick breakfast. Then small groups start splitting off - some continuing on to Jacksonville, some riding around the Bullard area, and some heading back. Being a newbie, I've been content to ride back home from there. But even taking that "short" ride, I put 32 miles behind me this morning. It really felt great, too. I've been sitting around for far too long lately slowly putting on the pounds and getting out of shape. So, I'm ready to start feeling better physically, and I've found a fun way to do it.

Another plus about the group rides is that since I work from home, I don't get a lot of interaction with people in town outside of church. This has opened a door to a whole new set of guys in town. That has been great. I've prayed about having that opportunity and so I'm excited that this has come.

One of the best feelings, though, is when I'm riding in the middle of the pack and cruising with relatively little effort and I look down at my speedometer to see that I'm going 30 mph. It may not sound fast, but on a bike (at least at my fitness level) that's smokin'! If you ever watch the Tour De France, you hear about the force of the peloton - how riders will try to break away but the group just draws them back in with it's speed. It's real, and it feels really cool when you experience it. Inside the pack, you're shielded so all of your energy is going directly to the road and not fighting that wind. There are a few big guys in the group. I could draft all day behind them.