Road Cycling - An introduction, thanks, and 7 large pics of my new ride...

I live in Los Angeles, not too far from LAX, and for the last three years or so I've been riding my old Trek 750 steel hybrid as a form of aerobic training. There's a great road (Westchester Parkway) which parallels the runways at the airport and provides a relatively traffic-free 4.5 mile circuit to repeat as often as one likes. There's always something interesting to see with the planes taking off and landing and since you're upwind, it's actually not very noisy at all. Then, if you like, you can crest the final small hill and you've got a great view of the Pacific Ocean. Quite a nice ride, at least for a training circuit.

Since I've been doing this, I've always taken notice of numerous serious road racers (and teams) who use the same circuit for training. I've always admired the bikes and been impressed with their speed, but only recently did I get the serious bug to finally buy a road bike of my own.

Once I decided it was time, I scoured the web and quickly found this great forum along with a few others. After some quick research, I decided to stick with the Trek brand and started looking for a used 5200 on ebay. A week later, I found what I wanted and ended up getting a decent deal.

That was about a month ago, and since I received the bike I've made some changes (stem, pedals, seatpost and saddle), bought my first cycling shoes and a whole bunch of other cycling gear. I added a computer, got a nice bike stand (Ultimate Pro -- very cool), various lubes and tools, and Zinn's road bike book so I can maintain the bike myself (which I'm really enjoying, too). I've ridden about twelve miles per day and I am having a great time!

Eventually, I'd like to work up to some longer distances (I'm sure I'll do a century at some point), but for now I have to keep my rides fairly short owing to time constraints. So far, my average speed seems to come in about 17.5 mph and I'd love to get that up closer to 19-20 over time.

Anyway, I just wanted to make this post to say THANKS for this great information resource and thought you might enjoy seeing some pics of my new ride.

Have a great weekend!

Ned

Specs:
Frame: 56 cm Trek 5200, year 2002
Wheels: Bontrager Race Lite
Tires: Bontrager Race X-Lite (will replace with Veloflex Pave black/gum)
Gruppo: Shimano Ultegra 9-speed
Pedals: Shimano Ultegra
Saddle: Fizik Aliante carbon rails
Seatpost: Thomson Elite
Stem: Ritchey WCS (104 grams!)
Handlebars: Bontrager Race
Bar Tape: Deda
Computer: Shimano Flight Deck wireless

Weight as pictured: 18.4 pounds (underseat emergency bag adds almost one pound, and water bottle/cage would add another pound but I don't carry water on my sub-one hour training rides)


http://home.comcast.net/~mrnv/bikes/trek5200/01.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~mrnv/bikes/trek5200/02.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~mrnv/bikes/trek5200/03.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~mrnv/bikes/trek5200/04.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~mrnv/bikes/trek5200/05.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~mrnv/bikes/trek5200/06.jpg

http://home.comcast.net/~mrnv/bikes/trek5200/07.jpg

sweet
you should try putting yellow tires on to see how it looks

sweet
you should try putting yellow tires on to see how it looks

Exactly my thought! That would look awesome. Take it from a chick who knows good looks! :D

Congrats on a nice ride!

nice lookin trek..looks better than the recent 5200s imo... drilled cassette cogs, i've never seen that before.
sd

Nice. The Michelin Carbons in yellow would be a nice touch.

Westchester Parkway runs along the Fabulous 15 (Westchester Golf Course) straight into In N' Out Burger. My kind of route. I don't miss LA but I do miss Playa Del Rey.

55/Rad

Nice ride you got there. ...Then you can take Pershing or Vista del Mar down to The Shack in Playa and get a Shack Burger and all that riding will be for nothing! LOL! I lived in Westchester up till about 2 years ago when I moved down to Harbor City. My parents still live there though and my wife and I hope to be back there in a couple of years. Atleast there is some nice routes down here in the Palos Verdes and Rolling hills area. I have a feeling I'll be buying a triple crankset for my new roadbike soon. I'm new to all this too. Maybe I'll ride up the coast and see you sometime.

Mark

When the time constraints ease, definetly try the Palos Verdes ride. Clean air, great views and some decent hills :D From where you live a ride to, around and back should take about 3 to 4 hours, less if your fast. You can do the bike path, at your own risk, or do the streets and suffer the many stop lights/signs. IOW, the ride to PV ain't great, but once you get there, it's pretty awesome.

...Then you can take Pershing or Vista del Mar down to The Shack in Playa and get a Shack Burger and all that riding will be for nothing! LOL!
Mmmmmm...Shack Burger.

55/Rad

When the time constraints ease, definetly try the Palos Verdes ride. Clean air, great views and some decent hills :D From where you live a ride to, around and back should take about 3 to 4 hours, less if your fast. You can do the bike path, at your own risk, or do the streets and suffer the many stop lights/signs. IOW, the ride to PV ain't great, but once you get there, it's pretty awesome.

This reply is for Mark (sydwaiz) also.

I'd love to hear more about riding in the Palos Verdes area. I used to windsurf just south of there in San Pedro and always thought it was a beautiful area.

I'd be inclined to drive down and ride there as opposed to riding the bike from home. I would expect a LOT of traffic between here and there.

Do you know of any good maps of the preferred biking routes in PV? Are the hills do-able with a double?

When I find out myself, I'll let you know! I just got my bike a week ago and am still in the process of aquiring all the accessories and equipment like clothing, shoes, tools, etc. I see lot's of other cyclist out there and I can't expect all of them to be using triples so I imagine a double is okay. I'll soon find out! Shoot me an email at Sydwaiz55@aol.com so I can keep in touch. I know there are some cycling clubs in the area, maybe I'll try and get some info from them.

Mark

Do you know of any good maps of the preferred biking routes in PV? Are the hills do-able with a double?

The rides in PV can be as varied as your imagination. My usual route follows the coast through Malaga Cove and around the southern tip. Then, I usually go up the "switch backs" (Palos Verdes Drive East?) and back around to Malaga Cove. Some folks do Western Ave over the hill, some do Hawthorne. Recommend you get a detailed map of the area and just venture out. You will see a ton of cyclists up there and you might just follow where they go.

As to the double vs. triple, there are some inclines that are pretty steep, but they don't last too long. Personally, my lowest gear is a 39 x 23. I could probably use a 26, but I'm just too cheap to buy a new cassette...