I've had a cycling computer for a week now (Knog N.E.R.D.), and today I went on a longer ride where I had a chance to actually take a crack at topping the bike out. 35mph! With my 46x17 gearing, that comes out to 165 rpm. That cadence was pretty much all I had- any faster and I would have been really struggling to keep from bouncing all over. Maybe in shorts I could nudge it up some. It's really fun to be able to actually know what benchmarks you've set so you have something to work on.

My other new acquisition is a set of clipless pedals (Eggbeater Candy) from craigslist. I borrowed a friend's old shoes and have been using them around town a few days now. Coming from clips, it's a big difference. Way more power from a stop, and I find myself sitting down more, to take better advantage of the upstroke. I doubt I could have managed to spin as fast in clips- these feel much more secure. I only fell over once so far- disengaged, set the middle of my foot on the pedal as a coasted to a stop, then accidentally clipped back in right as I stopped!

Just thought I'd share my experience with some new toys...