Originally Posted by
VictorMikeLima
Well, thank you all again for your valuable inputs. I purchased the 2012 Specialized Sirrus Comp on Saturday. I rode it to work this Sunday. It was fun being able to go routes that I've never gone through with a car before. And it was funny passing cars while they waited for the light. Or sitting right by one at a light for that matter. So I can say, for my first day, I had a good time. I'll say my lower back is aching a bit though. I'm not sure if it was from the ride, or my backpack...
But I'm enjoying myself so far, and I'm glad to finally be able to be apart of the bicycle community!
Thanks again, guys!
Awesome! But: be
really careful when passing stopped traffic on the right. That's how
left cross crashes happen. And as soon as you can afford it, you might want to ditch the backpack and get either panniers or Wald folding baskets for the rear rack -- a backpack makes you unstable, and as soon as the Florida heat comes back, it'll make you really !@#$% sweaty, too.
I grew up in Daytona, and have spent a lot of time in Orlando. It can be an OK place to ride a bike, but you really need to know what you're doing on those big arterial roads. I really highly recommend that you take a traffic skills class with
CyclingSavvy -- they'll help you skip the potentially dangerous period of rookie mistakes, and they can help you find the best routes, too.