Bicycle Mechanics - New Rider with Braking problems

Hello Everyone, Glad to be part of the community. I finally convinced my wife to dig into the savings and purchase road bikes. We went with the entry level Specialized. Dolce and Allez.

Well I currently have 45+mi. in 3days. I just cant get enough.

Well everything was fine until I finished my morning ride before work. I was noticing that the brake sounded rough. The braking felt strong and firm but it just sounded rough, like an automobile's brake that are worn to the rivets. So I removed the front brakes and found 2 rocks. 1 on each pad.

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f396/Diego209/IMG_0243.jpg

Next to my thumb there you can see the small indentation the rock left in the pad. Well one of the questions I have is will this be and ongoing problems? Or will the brakes quiet down again after a few more miles? Also. Does the wear on the pad represent normal (GOOD) patterns of contact.

Also the other concern is , how common is this for the average road biker. tiny rocks in their pads. And will a few scratches on there rims be enough to ruin the rim. Here is a pic of the light scratch. Cant tell if it is normal wear or because of the rock.
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f396/Diego209/IMG_0240.jpg


I will be taking it in soon for a free maintnance. However I would've loved to put over 200mi. Before my service, but if I am unsure about the bikes brakes I might have to go sooner.
Any help appreciated. Oh yeah and here is my bike.
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f396/Diego209/IMG_0238-1.jpg

May not be a Cervelo or whatever but I love it.

I moved this from the Road cycling forum. Any help appreciated.

Welcome to the wonderful world of road biking. Never had a rock imbed itself in my pad but I've heard it can happen. My new Fuji Roubaix RC came with Cane Creek brakes w/ cartridge pads and the pads were terrible. Sounded like I was grinding my rim every time I hit the brakes. Replaced the pads w/ new ones and the bike stops much better and doesn't give me that grinding sound. As for wear, your rims probably have a wear indicator. Either a recessed dot or grove. When that wears out smooth it is time to replace.

Pad wear pattern could be a tad better, more even across the width of the pad. Fully serviceable though.
Picking up debris is a fairly current occurrence, any time your brakes change noise you should inspect the pads at the next opportunity and clean them out. Pry out identifiable bits with whatever pointy tool you have available, and run a file or some sandpaper over the pad to clear away smaller particles.

The depth of the gouge mark is hard to tell, but is unlikely to be catastrophic.

Thanks for the replies. Can't wait to ride again. Will definately sand them down a bit. Hopefully this cures the problem until upgrade pads.

A lot depends simply on the road conditions; if there's a lot of construction or the land adjacent is dusty and gritty....You're going to get a lot of crud on the road.
It's common for new road riders to hug the edge of the road to avoid traffic. Unfortunately, that's where all the crud is.
Don't be afraid to "take your lane"; you're entitled.