I got a bike!! Will this be the summer of cycling?

Rolling across Memorial Bridge in D.C.

New Bike

I have long thought about biking as an alternative to running to stay fit.  The injuries I have had in the past combined with all the aches and soreness I have been experiencing since Boston made it even more evident that I will need a break from running.  I decided to hang on, running here and there and cross-training until Northface and then after that take a break in June.  Not to say a complete break from running, but at least 2 weeks of no running (not one mile), and then another 2-3 weeks of low mileage (like 20-25 Miles Per Week).

Enter: My New Bike.

Specs (all of which are basically just what I had in mind):
    Name: Klein Quantum
    Year: 2002
    Components: Mostly Shimano 105, some upgrades
    Frame material: Aluminum, with Carbon fork
    Color: Its that "Chameleon" color that shifts between green and purple
         depending on how you look at it.
    Its cool! and kind of "retro".

Whats a Klein?

 If you haven't heard of Klein Bikes (I hadn't either until recently) they are known for being rock-solid and having incredibly high standards.  The brand was started by a dude named Gary Klein, an MIT graduate who pioneered the use of Aluminum for building bike frames and had a proprietary welding method for the joints.  Prior to the 70s Aluminum was thought to be too weak and insufficiently stiff to build a bike out of.  Trek bought the Klein name in 1995 but continued making bikes under the brand until the late 2000's.

I was thinking about buying a new bike, but cycling being the expensive, equipment-based sport that it is soon soured me at the multi-thousand dollar price tags.  I started scouring the internet (okay, basically just Craigslist) and found exactly what I was looking for.  In typical Craigslist fashion I jumped on it, headed over to the ATM to withdrawl a large sum of cash, and headed out to the burbs to check it out.  After a quick test ride and inspection it was sold.  Fortunately it already had Shimano clip-in pedals on it which match my cleats that I use for spinning.

After only taking it on a few rides, and to my surprise and exhilaration, I realized this is really, really fun.

Heading toward the Lincoln Memorial.  Many of the roads in D.C. were
closed off in prep for the huge "Rolling Thunder" motorcycle ride/rally.

This and That

Saturday I went to my weekly Saturday Long Run group.  It was an enjoyable romp around the National Mall and Tidal Basin, passing many of D.C.'s iconic landmarks symbolic of Memorial Day.  Got in a little over 12 miles; this was probably the first run in a month where I felt almost normal (say about 85%) and my legs had some "pep" in them.  Maybe too much pep - as I pushed the pace to a comfortably fast at 7:15ish miles my left Achilles started to fatigue.  After a few days rest and easy activity it feels back to normal.

Sunday I again rolled out of bed before 7:00am (this time much more tired than Saturday) to meet a few friends to go riding - er, cycling - , er, whatever roadies call it!  We got in almost 35 hilly miles in about 2 hours and 20 minutes.  Considering at least 1/3 of this was spent dodging pedestrian traffic and meandering through D.C. this was a great pace.  I'm really excited to keep riding with experienced cyclists and test out some long-range country roads to see how I stack up.  If that wasn't enough I went out for another relaxing 90 minutes of biking Monday night.

Speaking of my new addiction to cycling, I think I am going to add a new summer goal:  The Reston Century bike ride, August 25th.  I haven't decided between the metric century (~66 miles) or full (over 100 miles) but I'm leaning toward the latter.

This all has me in a pretty positive mood with Northface coming up.  Feeling about 85% now could easily put me on track to be almost perfect come Saturday.  I don't expect a great finish time but I'll gladly take an "okay" finish time sans injury.  The weather is predicted to start out in the 70s and reach 90 that day, all the better reason to keep expectations low.