Cycling Adventures: Part
After two years of continuous ultra-running I have finally decided to diversify my endurance resume by buying a bicycle. I firmly believe that cycling will open up a huge door of possibility for future adventures and maybe even an Ironman in 2021. Not to mention cruising around the Houston Bike trails has been a surprisingly amount of fun.
As with most big purchases, I did quite a bit of research on what style of bike I wanted before I went all in. After my crash last year, on a borrowed carbon fiber race bike I knew one thing was for certain. Going fast was NOT my top priority.
The bike would need to have a steel frame. This indeed makes for a heavier ride however steel can be repaired anywhere in the world by a basic welder. Aluminum and carbon fiber would require specialized tools if there were ever a serious malfunction.
Next I wanted a bike that could handle racks and panniers. They will allow for some light touring in the near future. After having watched my friend Tiphanie cycle all over the world the idea of traveling on two wheels finally struck a cord with me.
Lastly, the bike ultimately needed to have wider tires than a traditional road bike to handle a variety of conditions
Time to go to the bike shop
Otherwise I was rather clueless about the cycling world, still am actually.
I quickly left the first local shop after the employee tried to sell me on a used Cannondale gravel bike for 10 minutes only to conclude by telling me the bike was far too small for me….
Not to be defeated, I headed over to iCycle in Houston. After a few minutes of walking around the owner asked if I needed help. Before I could even finish he said he had the bike for me, two of them actually.
Breezer or Fuji.
I ultimately went with the Fuji, due to overall appearance (the Breezer was bright green and white) and I didn’t feel that 32 gears would be necessary for flat terrain around Houston. However, I may regret that if I ever get into some serious climbing but that’s TBD.
In the last two weeks I have been out for a few rides, the longest being 40 miles on Buffalo Bayou and White Oak Bayou. Having ran for so long on these same trails it has been a nice change of pace to see them from the swiftness of a bicycle.
Not hanging up the shoes forever.
Buying a bike isn’t going to cause me to turn my back on trail running. As I mentioned this is just a new way to open up doors to more adventure. The idea of a long term cycling tour has always seemed intriguing after reading “Grand Adventures” by Alistair Humphrey’s.
