Honestly? Laziness.

There was a Job Fair in town yesterday. My wife also had a Dr. appointment smack dab in the middle of the event hours. Logistics and distances being what they were, I ended up dropping her off at work after we both did our thing.

Anyway, I decided to visit my primary LBS to rent a bike. I selected a Giant FCR3 from their fleet in a size M, which was the easiest one for the kid helping to get off the rack. I wanted to rent the bike, as I have had a crazy idea to buy one of these rental bikes for a while now- and a rental ride means that I'm doing more than loops in the parking lot.

My intent was to do a 6-7 mile loop using the MUP that runs on both sides of the Arkansas River. I headed west across the 71st bridge over the river to climb up to Turkey Mtn. Came down the hill (didn't know v-brakes could lock up that tightly...), passed the sewage treatment plant, soccer fields and the power plant. Was within sight of the Pedestrian Bridge (31st) when the path was blocked by two humanoid shaped blobs waddling shoulder to shoulder. Instead of passing them, I turned around and headed back the way I came- primarily because I didn't know if there were any closures on the other side of the river going back to the starting point.

Impressions of the bike itself: aside from the seat post kept sinking, the grips kept moving, and the shifting wasn't what I'd call crisp... it's not what I thought it would be. I thought I'd be able to tell the difference in ride characteristics between my CroMo framed Kona with it's 26"x1.5" tires and a aluminum framed fitness bike sporting 700c wheels and either 32 or 28 rubber, and I couldn't. And the size of the frame has me second guessing myself on whether or not my bike is too big...

And the ride kicked my butt. Between the ill fitting frame, the head wind, the hill, and the lack of cycling, I felt the soreness in places I haven't had more than minor discomfort in quite a while. Strongly considering doing rec rides as training rides for if/when I get another job.