After my week long eating binge (otherwise known as “Thanksgiving week at my Mom’s”) I returned home NEEDING to put some miles on my bike. The long riding pants/bibs and jersey that I had ordered from China (long ago) had arrived and I was excited to give them a try.
However; I had caught a head cold (otherwise known as the result of “hanging out with little kids during the cold season”).
So, I laid around, drank tea, and tried to get better. However; after a day of that, I could not take it any longer – I had to get some cycling time.
A few months ago I would have told you that I would never be caught dead in spandex cycling clothing. I was wrong, my how things change. After squeezing in, I looked like a bag of Stay-Puft marshmallows that had been jammed into a bag that was only half as large as necessary. However; I figured that was far better than how it would have looked a few months back. My jacket hid the worst of it so hopefully I wasn’t too disgusting of a sight. The important point to this is that I am motivated to fit and look reasonably decent in these clothes! I am going to do it!!
Off I went. The late November weather was beautiful, the air was warm, and there was no wind. The new clothing was working pretty well. Not sure who designed the seat pad in the bibs but it is far from great. I’m hoping that it gets better with some miles.
At about the 12 mile point I went around a corner and something felt rather odd. A glance down revealed that I had a very low rear tire. Ugh… I hate flat tires!
I turned from my planned route and took the shortest route towards home – about three miles. I made it about half a mile before the pedaling became pretty hard. So, I stopped and started looking at the tire. There wasn’t any obvious problem – stickers, thorns, gaping hole, etc… I decided to fill it and make a dash for home.
That approach worked in two different ways. One: I got home without walking. Two: I had a nice, high-tempo, sprint for the finish line home.
About the bibs and jersey. I bought them from the ebay seller “power.trade88” and they are definitely knock-offs from China. Shipping them took forever – six weeks. I have no idea why some things from China take less than a week and others take so long. Having never worn authentic pro-cycling clothing – I’m not an expert. That said, they seem to be of reasonable quality. The seat pad in the bibs is HUGE and really needs trimmed way down but it is sewn in place so that is no small chore. The jersey has pockets on the back, the little “resistance strip” to prevent it from riding up, and the zipper does not bite my neck. Overall, I’m pleased with the $45.00 that I spent. Yes, I know… I am neither sponsored by nor using Garmin, Barracuda, or Cervelo equipment. Nonetheless; it looks pretty cool!! 🙂 I hope to get some good mileage out of them and, possibly more importantly, some good motivation to continue loosing weight!
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