I have been wanting to get a new bicycle for quite a while now. I used to have a Trek road bike over 12 years ago when I lived back in Seattle. But when we moved across country, I didn’t bring it. I have been thinking that riding a bike might help me in my training to climb Mt Rainier next year, as well as climbing the Adirondack high peaks. It wont hurt my karate, or general fitness either. I have been watching bikes on eBay, and actually bid on a cheap bike, but got outbid. But I went down to Dick’s Sporting Goods, and they had a pretty good selection of bikes. I don’t need a $2000 bike. But I do want a quality bike. I know Diamondback is a decent brand of bike, or at least it was a dozen years ago when I used to ride. The Diamondback Sorrento is nothing fancy, but is a solid basic mountain bike. I have never own a mountain bike. Heck, I had never even ridden a mountain bike before. The frame is all aluminum, and it came fitted with Shimano hardware. The Sorrento comes in several different colors. Mine is Electric Blue. It cost $289 plus tax.
As I said, I haven’t had bike for over 12 years, so I haven’t ridden a bike for that long. I took my new bike out for a ride. I guess it is like they say…it’s like riding a bike. It was a short ride of about 2 miles. I rode to the top of a local hill. I had the bike in the lowest gear in spots on the way up. When I got to the top, I turned around and came flying back down the hill…well not too fast as I am still feeling out the bike. I had the bike in top gear, and was spinning the cranks. Even with the short ride, I was feeling it in my quads. I guess I was hitting different parts of the quads than I am using while running, or doing karate. Good!
Come next year, I am going to be in the best shape of the my life!

Posted by Rob in Bikes on September 25th, 2006 | 1 Comment