Too Good to be True

Do you have any idea what it feels like to drive a Corvette for a while and then have it taken away from and having to drive a Ford Focus because you can’t afford another Corvette-level car since you didn’t pay full price for the Corvette to begin with?  Well, me neither but what I’m feeling right now is the closest thing to that.

I mentioned before that the bike I recently got, the Cannodale, was high performance racing bike that I got for half of the original retail price due to being a 2008 and a very small frame.  Well, I had suspicions for a while that the bike was too small for me but my fears were confirmed today.  Every time I pedaled my thighs hit my abdomen and I couldn’t even go in the drops because I’d basically knee myself in the face.  I rode today with Team Storm Riders and a couple of people noticed that the bike was, indeed, too small for me.   The Cannondale was putting a huge amount of tension on my arms and I was starting to develop tennis elbow. I got a chance to try someone else’s larger bike and it made a world of difference. There was no tension on my arms whatsoever.  The frame was a 48cm and I thought it would be too big but it wasn’t.

So, I went back to the store and returned the bike.  The problem is that I will never be able to find anything spec’ed like that bike in my price range, that bike was a fluke.  Everything I can afford feels rudimentary in comparison.  After I have ridden a such a bike, how can I happily ride an entry level bike?  I’m absolutely gutted that it was too good to be true.  Honestly, I feel like I just don’t want a downgrade and I’d rather not ride at all until I can afford a similarly spec’ed bike.  That’s nonsense though but really, I will always know better and curse the day I set my standards so high.  I don’t know if I’ll be able to come to terms with riding an entry level bike.

As for today’s ride, it was my first proper organized group ride, pace line and all.  It was nice (even on a too small bike), it beats riding alone.  We rode from Pinecrest Gardens to a few miles past Blackpoint Marina and back.  The round trip was 32 miles.  The turning point was very close to my house but I didn’t know it then.  If I had known, I might have just ridden home.  The second half of the ride was hard, the wind was brutal.  I think right now 32 miles is my max, at least with that bike.