Chachi

Hi. My name is Eleanor and I'm a grad student in Athens, GA. I've linked to the bikeforums archive in the past but only just joined. I've been riding for about two years. I carted around a Trek 830 that I bought just after high school but never got on it until 2 years ago when it just got too hot in the GA summer to keep running. I had a blast and souped up my Trek with a new saddle, then slicks, then clipless pedals and after almost a year of riding it on the road I finally made the road bike plunge and got my Giant OCR2.

I ride my Giant on the road for fun/exercise, mostly with friends or groups in town. I co-formed a small women's cycling group in town that goes through ups and downs of activity. My goal is to ride 3-Gap in the N GA mntns again and to learn to do more easy maintenance on my own. I'm also thinking about starting to commute to work and figuring out how to outfit my Trek for it, which is one thing I hope to get some pointers on.

jabike

Welcome, Eleanor, from another Georgian. I live in the Atlanta area. I know that riding in the Athens area can be some pretty good training for the 3-Gap. As far as doing some of your own maintenance, I would think that some of the bike shops around Athens would offer some classes. I know there is a class coming up at one of the Atlanta REI stores on basic maintenance on July 16 (I think). Jeff