quick facts

here's some of the quick facts aboot yesterday's experimental ride to work as told by the little neat-o schwinn cycling computer on my bike:

• motal round-trip distance of 76 km
• max speed of 41.3 km/h (the best i've managed ever was 49.8 km/h)
• avg speed 17 km/h (i was certain i could average 20)
• total calories burned 2197.6 (should have gone around the block one more time to push it up to 2200)
• grams of fat burned 189.3
• min speed of about 8 km/h (this is not logged in the computer thingy, but was observed by myself as i trekked up a few nasty hills)
  

my brother (the cycling fanatic) assured me that i did quite well speed and time-wise for that distance carrying a load of stuff on my back. i figured as long as i survived, that's all that counts. it cost me an extra 1.5 to 2 hrs of commuting time, but saved me from burning nearly 7 litres (nearly 2 gallons) of gas.

i'll probably do this again, but not likely again this fall. it was very cold yesterday morning (aboot 8 degrees) and starting to get dark on the ride home.

for any bike geek out there who may be considering purchasing a Trek 7.3 FX - i'd recommend it for trips like that with a few minor adjustments:

• get some bar-end attachments so you can put your hands in different positions
• different grips would be nice (but not necessary if you're buying gloves)
• you may want to upgrade the front derailleur. should cost aboot 50 dollars extra or so if they give you credit on the take-off parts, but i've got to take my bike in to have the front derailleur serviced (again) cuz it's clicking. everything else is golden

it's a fast, solid and rugged bike. not overly heavy as it may appear at first, but certainly no superlight. definitely something that works just fine right out of the store. it's the perfect bike for someone who wants to start getting into cycling, but isn't sure that shelling out more than a grand is the right thing for them to do.