Sweet New Ride!

So this is my sweet new ride - Caad 9-5. I picked up my bike on Wednesday June 30th - and have ridden 100 miles on it so far in the last five days. I'm kinda tired right now, especially since I ran a road race this morning. Longest ride yet was somewhere between 45-50 miles. I'm getting better on the crashing thing - but if I'm tired and not as fast to react - I go down. Hopefully this rite of passage/initiation phase ends soon. My legs are spotted with cuts and bruises.

I've had the bike for five days, and so far this is what I've learned:

1. I have a temper while cycling & horrible road rage on the bridge. I swear like a sailor at Japanese tourists and flip off minivans who don't single before they take their right turns. I need to work on this, I can't be this angry every time I get on the bridge - this is no way to ride and quite frankly, to be this pissed off is exhausting.

2. Hills are... okay. You know when I rode the mountain bike with just sneakers it was horrible to get up the hills. Using the clips and having a lighter ride makes a huge difference. I actually don't mind them. It's a great work out and makes you focus. Downhill is a lot of fun... have to be careful in the city though. Especially at the polk/broadway intersection. But I love zipping down that hill into downtown Sausolito!

3. I need to map out some rides. I like Marin, I think I'm going to continue to go over there, but I need to map out rides that can give me various types of work outs. Also, my bike route knowledge is limited to SF, Sausolito, and Tiburon.

4. I didn't realize until I went on my longest ride, how much longer a work out on a bike is compared to a run or swim. I rarely need food or water on my medium swims/runs, but on a bike, both have proven to be necessary. Even today on a 25mile ride, I took coconut water with me.

5. Still am clueless as all hell on bike mechanics and I really need to grasp a better understanding of it. And I need to ride with someone who is experienced. Form needs correction as well.

But so far I'm loving the ride. Bootcamp starts tomorrow!!