"Road" Test, and Things I Learned About Bike Products.

I took out my bike on a 35-mile ride (split in half) with some friends in College Park and Silver Spring.  This was the second-longest ride I've ever been on.  It was on my new bike, of course.  Sure enough, I ended up being able to keep up with my fellow riders without a problem this time.  You know, as opposed to last time.

My groin muscles started to cramp with about 200 meters left on the ride back to my friend's house where we started.  I also had a lot of trouble with the gears: on Fuji bikes, the gears work backwards.  This means that the higher the number, the easier the gear - which is backwards compared to every bike I've ridden before.  Instead of flicking your wrist downward for an easier gear, you flip it upwards.  I'm still not used to that, and as a result I kept shifting up when I wanted to shift down and vice-versa. 

But all in all, it was a good experience that validated my bike choice (this bike is far faster and significantly more comfortable than my ATB was), and my residual riding abilities.   I'll most likely increase my regular riding output. 

Here is some more info I've learned so far:

1. The Gel Lie. 

Gel might be the biggest crock of shit mass-marketed to an unsuspecting American public that I've ever seen in the exercise world. Gel is a good idea in theory, but in practice it doesn't work.  Because gel doesn't lose its form, it doesn't conform to the shape of the wearer.  This means that it's wobbly and uncomfortable, it will strain soft tissues and tendons, and will cause different kinds of pain that actually worsen areas that the gel is supposed to support.  I should have realized this when I first tried Dr. Scholl's gel inserts back in '02.  No product of theirs is more heavily advertised on television -- yet they suck.  Your feet aren't given extra support; instead, they wobble around unsteadily.  I suppose your smaller tendons and muscles in your feet get more of a workout from maintaining balance, but over time this causes foot pain. 

This truth kills the usefulness of the following products:

• Gel bike seats (they never conform to the shape of your ass.  The most expensive seats on the market are hard and made of leather.  Why?  Because the hardcore long-distance bikers can't use gel seats.)
• Gel saddle pads (I rode 63 miles on one, and I couldn't sit right for a week.  In retrospect, I was torturing myself.  I just rode 35 miles on a thin, non-gel, seat and I feel fine today.)
• Gel gloves (I just bought a new pair.  Well, I guess I need new gloves again).
• Gel chamois inserts in cycling shorts (same idea as gel saddle pads - they won't conform to your ass.)

Anyway, the moral of the story is: stay away from gel.

2. Seams are the devil.

I used to ride with normal workout shorts, mesh shorts, you name it.  When I was a kid, I used to laugh at the people who had all the hardcore biking gear.  Why bother spending all that money?  I used to chuckle. 
That was all well and good when I was only riding 5-10 miles at most and I was 80 pounds lighter.  Now I'm a lot heavier...and seams are uncomfortable. 

If you've ever felt like your behind has become raw, sensitive to the touch and chafed after a long bike ride, your seams are the reason why.  Lots of saddles are designed with seams.  Avoid them; they will chafe unless you are really light.  Your underwear and regular workout shorts will chafe you over time also.  That's why the biking shorts (and, for some, biking underwear).  Thankfully, they now make baggy biking shorts that are more practical and aesthetically appealing than the old spandex ones.  There's also crotch pads sewn in.  But no underwear should be worn unless it's made for cycling.

Those are the big ones so far.  More may come up later. 

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