Surly time!

My new bike came in! Did I even mention I was getting a new bike? Probably not. It wasn't totally necessary that I get a new one, as I was doing ok on my Trek 7200, but I was complaining about the riding position to Alyssa and she suggested that I might want to look into a bike more suitable for road riding. I wasn't really sure what I wanted, but after some thoughtful consideration, I decided to go with the bike Alyssa loves and has been riding for almost a year now.

Introducing...





My new Surly Cross Check! Honestly, given my natural state of being, there isn't a more appropriate bike company from which I could buy a bike. Surly is my middle name.

As you can see, it is black. Tom at The Bicycle Escape - our bike shop of choice - made it look awesome for me with the blue accent color gear I chose. I picked out handlebar tape, the water bottle cages, and a righteous Honka Hoota horn. I actually think Alyssa covets my horn.

Tom is a beast and had it ready for me to pick up in a week, so we headed to The Bicycle Escape on Saturday afternoon. I thought I might ride from the store to the house, but those plans were thwarted by the beating my body took from doing the Race for the Cure 5k in the morning and then mowing a friend's yard after that. My feet and hands were covered in blisters, so we just loaded the bike into the truck and brought it home. We planned on getting a good night's rest and then getting up to do a morning ride. We got the good night's rest part taken care of fairly easily and we were up plenty early, but our plan to ride 10 miles to church was thwarted when we came downstairs to discover Alyssa's rear tire had gone flat overnight. Because she is a superstar, Alyssa put her bike down on the kitchen floor and changed her flat in a pretty short amount of time, but it was still too late for us to make it to church on time. We reconfigured our game plan and took off for a shorter ride around town. Actually, it was a way shorter ride - only 3 miles - and it was broken up by stopping for a bagel, but it gave me a chance to just get on the bike and try things out.

Riding the Surly is definitely going to be an adjustment. It's a whole new riding position and getting started is a bit more wobbly than on the Trek, but for my first ride, I was pleased. I wasn't brave enough to try the clipless pedals today, figuring that riding a new bike would be enough of an adjustment for one day, but on our next big ride I'm going to suck it up and give them a go. The worst that can happen is that I fall on my face.

Hm, I kind of don't want to fall on my face.