Testing out my hands

Okay, so I don’t like running. I got two blocks from home and turned around. I’m confident that if I can bike 88 miles that I can run a few, but my muscles aren’t used to it and it’s a psychological barrier. That, and it ain’t much fun.

So, I turned around, ran home, and spun my mountain bike on the indoor trainer for half an hour or so (I don’t like taking the road bike down off the wall, scratching up the skewers on the trainer, and getting it all set up).

By sitting up, focusing on bending my elbows and shifting hand position, I managed to bike with minimal discomfort in my hands. Still don’t know what will happen come Sunday when I try to do 60+ miles (and with a new saddle).

I replaced the Orbea OEM saddle with a Selle Italia SLR Gel in black. After spending two hours at Cycle Sport Oakland, I ended up chosing the first saddle that the fitter had put on my bike. Huge props to Cycle Sport for spending that amount of time and allowing me to ride multiple Selle Italias, Fiziks, Specialized BGs, etc. Ian was extremely patient.

The SLR is very close in profile and shape to the OEM saddle that came on the bike, but it’s stiff. I can bend the Orbea saddle like taco. This one (carbon fiber), I can’t flex with my hands. It’s the first time I’ve felt like I’m sitting on a saddle rather than near it. It feels hard on sits bones, but it’s the only saddle that left me feeling like I was supported in the, ahem, right place.

We’ll see how this weekend goes.