Bike Forums - Confession from a Newbie

Greetings,

Keith from Woodbury, MN here...just got back on a road bike after not having ridden seriously since college (25 years ago) and losing 100 pounds over the last 9 months. My brother-in-law rides and has been bugging me for a while to ride with him...the weight kept me from it though. "The new me" finally relented and got a Fuji Newest 4.0 a couple of weekends ago. Yeah, I know, but my wife kept me on a very tight budget until she's convinced I'm going to stick with it. The bike is really nice though and I think it will serve me well until next spring when I'll campaign for something a tad lighter and nicer. Picked it up on a Saturday morning and by Sunday evening I had put 60 miles on it already! B-I-L and I did 40 this past Saturday and I've been trying to do 15 in the evenings daily, just to get used to having my butt in the seat again. My real goal has been to do something to displace some running, which was the primary exercise vehicle for my weight loss. I enjoy the bike a whole ton more...wifey's going to cough up the nicer bike in the spring. Given all the running I've done the legs are in pretty good shape for riding although I do feel the muscle groups I've not used when running. The B-I-L thinks I'll be ready for a century before the weather turns here in MN, we'll see. My last thing to work out is pedals...I'm riding platform now, Power grips look like an interesting transition to clipless.

Now, on to my confession...

Even when I rode in college I had never ridden in proper cycling shorts. As I've passed or seen guys on the road in their Lycra I've sneered and chuckled like I'm sure most non-cyclists do. Little did I know about the padding... Well, the B-I-L convinced me to try a pair of shorts before our 40 mile ride this past weekend. Well, I gotta tell you...I apologize. I never thought I could be more comfortable in a seat (and admittedly, the stock Fuji seat is probably not the best in the world). I have to take back 10 times over all the little chuckles and sneers through the years.

So to all of you I might have seen on the road and had a laugh to myself at your expense, I humbly and sincerely apologize. Please don't be offended at my ignorance...

Cheers!