My First Outside Ride of 08 and Review of New Gear

This has got to be one of the worst winters I can remember. It is never ending. Don't get me wrong I love winter, I love sledding, I love wearing sweatshirts, I just love cold weather in general. However this winter here in Omaha has just been miserable. Weekly snow and constant cold have made it impossible to get out and ride, and run for that matter. As soon as the snow melts it snows again and gets cold again. So lots of ice on the ground, sidewalks, and bike paths.
This weekend we got a heat wave. It was in the mid 40s both Saturday and Sunday. My wife and I went out for a ride on Sunday. It was around 42 degrees when we started and luckily I guessed correctly on my clothes. It had been a long time since I had to dress for cold weather cycling. Dressing for cold running is completely different than cold weather cycling. I could make this about what to wear but there is enough info on that topic out there on the inter-web.
My wife got to ride her new Felt FW40 road bike and I decided to take my new Felt F1X cross bike. I got new slick (or commuter) tires for it just for pavement riding. I'll probably not use these tires much but I have them if I need them. Anyway my bike rode extremely well. The gearing was surprisingly good. I was worried about only having a double crank that I'd run out of gears. I took off on a sprint and got it up to 21mph. It wasn't a full out sprint but faster than we were riding. I was hanging back to stay with my wife since this is her first year riding she's not in cycling shape yet.
The stock seat on my bike was not very cushy. It is more of a race style seat. We went 15.5 miles and I thought that had we gone 22 as planned I would have been a little uncomfortable in the taint by the end of the ride. I am of course not close to being in full riding shape so this saddle may end up working for me yet. The other thing I was real happy about is the overall comfort of the my hands and feet. Normally my hands and feet go numb with in 5 miles of my ride. Then I'm fighting it my whole ride.
I am using a two sided Shimano pedal. On one side is a platform and the other side is the SPD clip. I was clipped in about half the time mainly because of the reduced speed and also because we were having to stop frequently to cross slabs of ice where the path crossed under roadways.
The handle bars feel good they are either wider or the bar tape is thicker than what is on my road bike. The thicker handle bars distribute the pressure on my hands more evenly hence making my hands more comfortable on the bars.
My new Shimano M075 shoes are great. Not only do they not have a big clip sticking off the ball of my foot (like my Time road clips) but they are an all around more comfortable shoe. These shoes have 3 velcro straps to adjust the fit. You can tighten or loosen the shoes as you are riding down the road too. The nice thing is these shoes are versatile enough to use for mountain bike shoes and road shoes.
I'm not sold on the SPD clips though but I may eventually switch out my Time cleats and pedals on my road bike so I can use these new shoes. The SPDs did not engage like they should and my wife actually got stuck in one of her cleats and I had to twist her foot out of it. My road shoes are nice high quality shoes but they fit too tight and cause my feet to go numb. I like how the Time cleats work, but I don't like walking on them off the bike. When you are doing multi day tours or century rides you are getting off the bike often and walking around. The Time pedals and clips are pricey too, so replacing them is not fun.
Overall it was a very enjoyable ride. My new bike was great. I look forward to riding it more. It felt really good to get outside and ride. The euphoria I get from riding outside is indescribable. That is why I love cycling. The forecast is looking good for an other weekend ride.

The Dude