Until this week I had been riding my faithful, trusty and s-l-o-w hybrid. It got me through 60+ lbs of weight loss and moving from gasping at a mile long ride to routinely pulling 30 mile rides.

But I finally wanted to try my hand at a road bike, in my case a steel-framed tourer, the Surly LHT complete.

I only find myself using the drops for going as aerodynamic as possible and that means when barreling down a steep hill.

While I'm 6 sizes smaller around the waist I still feel my thighs thudding against my remaining girth. Then I'm passing 25 MPH and thinking about that sort of stuff isn't smart. I have to pay attention to the road, and that's one of those zen moments.

Go with the bike you want to ride. Then go on a ride. The gut will disappear if you watch the portions and keep riding.