Smyle5

Hi -

I never really know what to put on these, but - here goes...

I'm Laura and I'm from South East MI (the rather ugly, industrial part) -

I got back into bike riding about 4 years ago when I decided to get healthier - Then I got pregnant and that got postponed a year or two more, but I am on track now. I started riding bikes as a kid, like most of us. I had a Huffy 10 speed (it was pink, purple and AWESOME) and a couple of Big Box store mountain bikes... My family wasn't one that understood or took interest in the difference between Target bikes and ones from higher quality manufacturers. When I was in high school, my bike was stolen, or lost or ran over - I can't remember - but I got a car soon after and lost interest/need for biking...

A few years ago I chose a Diamondback cruiser style bike out of a DICK's sales ad, brought it home and rode that around locally for 3 years. After my pregnancy, I decided to get serious about being healthier, and got into boot camp classes. When I got on the cruiser after loosing 50lbs, it just didn't feel "me" anymore. I wanted to go faster. I didn't have a huge amount of $ to work with, but did some research and test rode a bunch of bikes and settled on a Liv Rove 2, which i LOVE.

After a season of seeing me ride all the time, my husband decided to join in the fun and bought a Specialized Hardtrail Elite that he found on clearance. Shortly after we started riding together, he was blowing my doors off and bored with how slow I was... I started poking around looking for a road bike, but couldn't get used to the feel of them. Then the dude at my LBS brought out the Sirrus Carbon and I KNEW I had what I wanted. I actually ended up with the girl version (Vita) for the geometry and fit aspects, and am so happy w/ my new ride.

I am primarily a fitness rider - mostly all local roads/trails. There are some pretty cool ones near me that connect together for some good mileage and scenery options... I've never rode in a group... I'm a little intimidated, especially w/ the roadies - I know that so many people in the cycling world are friendly and helpful, buuut... yeah. I'm thinking next summer I will try a century or some other organized long distance ride around Michigan - seems we have a ton of them...

In regards to maintenance, parts upgrades and quality etc I am pretty low-knowledge, so I plan to use the forums to gain some insight and get advice as I go...

Thanks for having me

obed7

welcome to the forums

RonH

Welcome to Bike Forums. Good looking bike.