First Ride in a long time

OK, so Saturday marked my return to cycling, a sport which I loved as a kid, but from which I had long since fallen away.

The new bike (Specialized Allez Sport) is spectacular - about 22 pounds total loaded up with flat kit and all. I am hopeful that my high weight won't cause too many problems with the components. Seatpost and wheels are the ones I am concerned about.

First ride out was enlightening. The weak left Achilles that I had been nursing for months presented no problems, whether flying along in the saddle or standing up for the hill climbs.

My problem areas, which I need to work on, are cardio-fitness and my aching quads (which, ironically, I thought were fairly strong, given the last few months of indoor spinning). Oh well.

The little hills felt like freakin' mountains and I found myself breaking them up into halves and thirds and taking rest breaks frequently.

First live road experience with clipless pedals was OK - did not fall off the bike and even managed a few decent standing starts coming off the local traffic lights without disrupting traffic too much;-)

Only encountered one of the local redneck idiots screaming "GET ON THE SIDEWALK!" (Jacka$$)

Next up, build a good schedule for building on the cardio and quad weakness (opportunities), and back to the gym.

Cheers!