My wife has been hinting for years that she might want to go on some rides with me. I took this with a grain of salt since her mountain bike has been hanging in the garage unused for about 12 years. Anyway, I decided to call her bluff and I borrowed a friend's wife's road bike. It was a bit too big, but at least it had a triple.
So, we go for a ten mile ride around town and she did fine (she runs occasionally so she's in pretty good shape) and she even made it up a short, ten percent hill with no problem. After the ride, she said that she liked it and I asked her if she wanted a bike and she gave me the "yeah, maybe". I took this as an opportunity to buy more bike stuff, which really psyches me up.
I spend the whole week researching WSD bikes (my wife is 5'0") and I narrow it down to two upright bikes, a Specialzed Ruby (WSD version of the Roubaix line) Elite Triple or a Cannondale Carbon Fem 5.
Last Sunday, she makes the mistake of asking what I wanted to do and I said "well, we could go look at bikes". Hearing no protests, we're off.
We go to Mike's Bikes in Berkeley because they have a great selection, they discount their prices a bit, and I used their free bike maintenance workshop on Wednesdays. They had the Ruby in stock (a 44) and we went for a test ride. Although she wasn't crazy about the color, she liked the ride and the shifting, especially since she was comparing it to her one other data point, the borrowed bike. They didn't have the Cannondale, so we decide to upgrade to the Ruby Comp Triple (better color, brakes, wheels, and crank). We're about to seal the deal when the saleman mentions that if we bring it back in 30 days, we qualify for the sale and the discount is a lot bigger on the next step up, the Ruby Expert Triple. I'm really getting excited now since this is all Ultegra and it's really pretty. Using the proven rationale, "you can't take it with you", we go with the Expert with only a test ride around the parking lot (same geometry as the Comp).
Wednesday, we went for another short ride in the neighborhood and she did fine. I then replaced the platform pedals with Speedplay Light Actions. Here's where she confirmed why I love my wife.
I put her on the trainer and she practices clipping in and out dozens of times. Then I get her on a nice, flat street with no traffic and I run along side in case she has trouble clipping out. No problem so far. She says that she's fine and she'll go practice while I put my shoes on. After a few minutes, I ride down the street and she's standing over her bike and I asked her how she's doing. "I fell" My heart drops. She's got a small cut on her knee but otherwise she's OK. I asked her if she put her arm out to break her fall and she says that she doesn't remember. All she remembers is that as she was falling, all she thought about was
keeping the bike from hitting the ground and getting it all scratched up! Gosh, I love this woman. She already gets what cycling is all about - putting the bike ahead of one's own body. And, while we were shopping, she was asking how much things weigh! Outstanding.
Anyway, we're off for a ride now and here are those pics that I promised. Thanks for reading.
Cliff
