The Specialized Crosstrail Sport is now mine. Never being able to escape the desire for a mountain bike, the people at Specialized made this just for me. It looks like a mountain bike, it feels like a mountain bike, yet has greater on road performance (so says the bike shop) with a commuter frame. It's a "hybrid" bike. Front shocks with lockouts, 24 speed, 29" tires, on a 58 cm frame. There's no comparison to Uncle Ben's Trek I borrowed last summer.
Of course, as I knew going into this, it's never just the bike. I needed a helmet, computer, water bottle, and shorts came highly recommended. Suffering from the "do it right the first time" (which usually means bells and whistles in my head) I agreed with myself that I would buy the basics. With the exception of an insulated water bottle (I think I still have Ben's and I need to get that back to him) I got the most basic computer and helmet. The computer only counts time while the wheels are rolling which ended up being something I really like. As for the shorts... I'm trying to imagine myself in spandex. I think of guys I've seen with their garbage all smashed in spandex offering me the rare glimpse of what sculpture might have been like if Picasso gave it a go. I wasn't excited about the idea. Or the thought of how I would look in spandex period. It was bad, nothing good would come from this, but I asked, "Guys keep telling me to get padded shorts and to Vaseline my junk". Expecting a mixed reaction of maybe and some laughter I was responded to with a matter of fact "don't use vaseline we have better stuff and check out these shorts". Further discussion revealed that since I won't be doing 40+ miles a day I don't need to worry about chaffing but the shorts help on anything over 5 miles. I'm still skeptical because these shorts are $90. Told that I could return them with tags and no smell I took a pair. This is starting to be like snowboarding... everything from one brand and why do I like black?
So I'm sitting at the office, feeling like crap, smelling bad because I was too excited to go ride to remember to put deodorant on when I jumped out of the shower, and burning UP. It was 81, felt like 91 at 11 am. I'm gonna drink around 64 ounces of fluids before I head back and the expected temp around 3 is 91, feeling like 100. I guess I picked a good day to try this all out.
It took 40 minutes of rolling time, 6.5 miles, and around an hour to make it in. This accounts for me waiting at crosswalks, going the wrong way on the wrong street, and a 7 minute break because I thought I was gonna have heat stroke. Did I mention I'm wearing all black? But alas, I'm here and now "it wasn't so bad" hahaha. We'll see how I feel tonight... The shorts are AMAZING and definitely worth the money if I do this every day. Will I? Maybe if I get up at 7 and ride in before it gets hot. I can't lie, while not a tree hugger, I like thinking that I am doing my part to make this a better place for all of us.
Oh, and the W&OD trail is really crowded! Here's a google map of my routes. Click on the lines to see the route description and distance.
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