I want to ride my bicycle, bicycle, bicycle...

In memory of a ring tone my father once had (and the band Queen), "I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike.  I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like."

Last weekend Adri and I decided that we needed to finally at least go look at bikes.  "We'll only be there for, say, maybe 30 minutes.  Let's just get some information, get an idea of what we like and then we can buy later," I said.  I wish I had heard a buzzer at that moment telling me I was wrong like on Family Feud.  Anyway, we went to Canyon Bicycles (on recommendation of a co-worker) and had a wonderful experience and actually found some great bikes.  Took them for a spin in the parking lot and Adrienne fell in love.  At this point there was no hope.  So, after about 4 hours of looking at bikes and gear and getting fitted and trying stuff on, we found last year's models so they were cheaper than normal, and so we got a great deal.  We both got a Specialized Secteur and already love them.

First, we have Adrienne's bike.  This white beauty fits Adri like a glove.  We realized as we were driving one bike home at a time (because both don't fit in my car and we don't have the bike piece to my rack yet) that our bikes match our cars.  Adri really liked that!

And here is my bike.  It seems that many of the things I get are darker in color.  My snowboard, my car, now my bike... maybe my dark side is trying to come out.

Anyway, we bought the bikes on Saturday and then on Sunday went for a quick spin after church down to the park about a mile away.  We rode down, hung out for a bit and rode back.  Once we got home, Adri looked at me and said, "Mark, that was so much easier than riding a mountain bike.  I felt like every single pedal actually did some work.  I was more comfortable and just felt so much better."  That's when I knew we made the right decision.

These two pictures are proof that we do actually own the bikes and didn't just take pictures of them at a friends place.  See, I am even wearing shoes that clip into the pedals.  Adri is afraid of them at the moment, so she just has the baskets (as they call them).

Lastly, we have planned our first loop... about 6.5 miles.  Adri's sister, Taneea, was in town this weekend so they could have a girls day and so I got up in the morning and thought I would try to loop.  Took me about 35-40 minutes to do.  Not bad for my first ride.  Now I need to get Adri out there with me.

We still have a few things to get, but the essentials we have, and we are loving our new bikes!  Now we just need to start training for a triathlon.