The Bike

After riding the mountain bike for a couple months, two became things became clear.   One was that I needed a better bike than what I had.  A better bike would be ……… better.  I was riding a lot and I was riding hard.   I was riding longer distances at ever-increasing speeds.   The bike I had, simply, wasn’t going to cut it for very much longer. The second thing was that it seemed I had almost no interest in riding in the dirt.  Even when opportunities to play in the dirt would present themselves I stayed to pavement.   A mountain bike wasn’t of much use.   It was clear that a new bike was needed and it wasn’t going to be a mountain bike.

It turned out to be a road bike.  This road bike.

I enlisted the help of a new friend, Glen.  Glen was an experienced bike racer and had forgotten more about bikes than I knew.  Glen was generous with his time and knowledge, answering every question, offering advice on what to look for and what to avoid.  I learned a lot from Glen - derailleurs, brakes, wheels, saddles, tires and frames.  I absorbed as much as I could.  I wanted to be as informed as possible when the time came to buy my next bike.  I wanted it to be the best bike I could afford.

One day Glen emailed me a sale flier that listed a 2011 GT GTR Series 2 road bike.  It had the kind of components I was looking for and the price was right.  I drove down to the shop after work, looked the bike over and took it for a test ride.  Although it had been 40 years since the last time I got on a road bike, I found the GT comfortable, steady and predictable.  I liked it immediately.  After talking it over with the wife, we decided to buy it.  It was Christmas time, and money was a little tight, so we put it on lay-away with the idea of redeeming the bike in mid-February.   Three months.

That was a long three months.  Although the weather around the Holidays wasn't always suited  to riding, every time a nice day came along, I found myself wanting to get on GT and ride it somewhere rather than the POS I had.    I was like a kid waiting for a present he knew he was getting.  It was kinda fun to feel that way, but it was also kind of frustrating.  I still had the old, POS mountain bike to ride and it was, of course, better than nothing, but  it wasn't the bike that was waiting for me.  It wasn't the kind of bike I wanted to be riding.

February finally came.  We finished paying off the layaway, and brought the bike home.  I asked the mechanic to remove the spoke protector from the rear wheel.  This item is also called a "Pie Pan" or "Dork Disc".  It was ugly.  I didn't want it on my bike.  When I got home, I put Mr. Tuffy tape in the tires for better flat protection. I shit-canned the reflectors.  I took the pedals and cyclocomputer off the MTB and mounted them on the GT.

The bike was home and ready to ride.

I took the next day off work and took the GT for a long ride. Twenty five miles.  I was in love.  It was everything the mountain bike was not - light, responsive, fast and easy on the eye.  It was cloudy and cool out, but I didn't really notice.  I saw a few similarly dedicated cyclists on the road.  I nodded, smiled and waved.  I was now a Roadie.  I was one them.  We recognize our own, don't we?  They did not respond in kind.  Then a young lady on a Trek passed me.  Didn't say a word.  I wanted to say something to her about what I nice day for a ride it was, but before I could get a word out, she was gone out of earshot.  But what the hell.  It was nothing personal and this wasn't a race.  There was a long downhill at about the half-way point.  I decided to get down in the "drops" and take this descent like a pro.  Sort of.  Nearing the bottom I shot a glance at the computer: 35 MPH!!!!!!! 

Sonofabitch, that's FUCKING FAST!!!!!!

The rest of the ride was along the South Platte River. I blew through several clouds of Road Krill en route, but being peppered with gnats didn't bother me.  I was now a Roadie and was above such mundane annoyances.  I made it home, tired, but happy and supremely satisfied.  I wheeled the bike into the garage set it up in the stand, got a cup of coffee and sat with my new bike for a while.  Then I grabbed a rag and wiped her down.

I'd done alright.

2011 GT GTR Series 2

Wheels: Mavic Aksium Race
Tires: Kenda Kadence 700 X 23c
Handlebars:  Ritchey
Brakes: Tektonic R540
Front Derailleur: SRAM Apex
Rear Derailleur: SRAM Apex
Brake/Shift Levers: SRAM Apex Double-Tap
Headset:  FSA Orbit 1 Inegrated
Bottom Bracket: FSA Mega Exo
Crank:  SRAM Apex 50/34

Things I Added

Headlight
Tail light
2 bottle cages
Mr. Tuffy tire liners
Pedals from the MTB
Cateye cyclocomputer from the MTB.

Shit-Canned

Rear wheel spoke protector ("Pie Pan" or "Dork Disc")
Reflectors

Things I Changed Later

Tires
Just before the Denver Century, I changed the Kenda 23s to a set of Vittoria Rubino Pro Slick 25s.  My hope was to get a more compliant ride, which I got, but the increased tire diameter changed rollout and in effect raised my overall gear ratios.  I recently switched back to the Kendas.

Cassette
The bike came with a Shimano 12-25 cassette.  After riding with this for several months I decided I needed lower gearing for climbs and opted for the SRAM 1050 12-28 cassette instead.  Good choice.

Chain
The bike came with a Shimano chain.  When I replaced the cassette, I got a new SRAM PC 1031 PowerChain.

Seatpost
I was cursed by two reputable mechanics for the stock seatpost – a Ritchey OEM post.  Ashamed, I replaced the Ritchey with a Deda Elementi  Pro RS01.  Much nicer.

Pedals
Not really a change as the bike came without pedals. At first I used the pedals off the old MTB.  When I decided to step up to clipless pedals I chose the Crank Brothers Eggbeater 1. A friend had a factory rebuilt set with new cleats.  I like walking normally and have vivid memories of the Earth Shoe.

Eggbeaters are easy to clip in/out of and hold the foot securely.  They're a LOT more comfortable than they look.  The colors even match the bike.

Seat
The bike came with the Fi'zi:k Pave CS saddle.  That saddle was fine for about two hours of riding and then became really uncomfortable.  After trying a few others, I settled on the Selle An Atomica Titanico X to replace the Fi'zi:k.  The TX is a leather hammock-style saddle, but required no break in - immediately comfortable.  I also needed more setback on the saddle than other saddles offered and the Titanico has really long mounting rails that worked perfectly for that problem.

Note:  Choice of saddles is probably the most personal thing on road bike.  Some saddles work for some peope and not for others.  My decision to replace the Fi'zi:k is not a reflection on the quality of that saddle.  It wasn't working and for the sake of my butt a change was necessary.

It's Josh's Bike Now

It used to be mine.

I bought it "off the rack" at my local Kmart.  Or was it Walmart. Shit, I don't remember, but wherever it was, it happened ten years ago.  Maybe.  I forget.  Dammit!  I don't even remember why I bought it in the first place.

This gettin' old shit ain't for pussies.

Anyway.....

I bought this bike and used it briefly. Then it sat in the garage for a long time, collecting dust, the tires going flat.  Ignored.  Neglected. All but forgotten.

Then came Doctors Orders.

Ride your bike.

So, I pulled ten years of flotsam off the bike.  I cleaned it up.  I put air back in the tires.  I oiled the chain.  I went to the cupboard, grabbed my helmet and gloves and went back to go for a ride.

Both tires were already flat.

Gawddammit!

So, I went to the nearest bike shop and got a couple tubes.  I got home replaced the tubes, aired-up the tires and went for a ride.

Let me take a moment to describe the bike.  It was a full-suspension mountain bike.  For those unfamiliar with bikes like this, a full-suspension bike has a suspension system on both wheels.  It was made from aluminum and heavy (weighed in at 42 pounds).  It had 21 speeds - 7 gears (or cogs) on the rear wheel and 3 gears (or chainrings) on the crank.  The derailleurs were made by Shimano but not particularly good.  By any standard, this wasn't a particularly good bike, but it was serviceable.

I would joke about the bike.  I'd call it a POS (Piece of Shit).  I'd run down the derailuers, the wheels, the tires, the frame, the seat, the weight and whatever benighted, reprobate, creature designed it.  I would, at times, be relentless in my condemnation.  Privately, it was a much different story.

I was having fun.

Despite all the bike's shortcomings, I was enjoying the hell out of riding it. The sights and sounds associated with cycling were kind of intoxicating.  Meeting the challenges of a climb, a new route, an old route ridden faster or a longer route I found to be supremely satisfying.  I was feeling better.  I was losing a little weight.  My cardio-vascular health was improving.   It was all that, more and I was loving every minute of it. It may not have been the best bike in the world and it may have been every bit the POS I was telling people it was, but it was also my conveyance to a new world, a new way of life.

I found tinkering with that bike to be very therapeutic.  Going to the garage after dinner with a cup of coffee and NPR to work on my bike (whether it needed the work or not) became a ritual of sorts.  It was calming.  It was intimate.  It was rewarding.

It provided me with education.  I learned to do things I didn’t know how to do.  I learned to adjust derailleurs and brakes.  I cleaned and re-greased the wheel bearings.  I took it apart and put it back together.  I found out what differences changing seat or handlebar positioning would make.  I learned how to pace myself.  I learned how to listen to my body.

This bike, this “piece of shit”, was helping me in ways I had never thought I could be helped.  Taking me to places I had never considered going to.  My life was changing, right before my very eyes and this machine was at the heart of it.

It really wasn’t a piece of shit.  It was more like a friend.  I liked this bike.  I was having fun with it.  It was helping me make my world a Better Place.

What are friends for?

*********************************************

All things change and so would this.  That bike was a mountain bike.  It was meant to be ridden off-road and I was becoming more interested in road cycling.  I found a decent road bike, bought it and began riding that.  The mountain bike was once again set aside.  I was thinking about giving it to some needy kid when a friend, Josh, offered to buy it from me.  I needed some kit, so I took him up on his offer.

So now it’s Josh’s bike and I hope he can get a fraction of what I got from it.