D4W Totally Rocks

Yesterday morning I was contemplating what to do on a day when the temperature at 8 in the morning was already over 60. The phone rang, bike shop calling, to tell me that my new bike had arrived, was built and ready to get fitted! Well, that settled the issue. Threw on bike shorts and a long sleeved jersey, grabbed my gear, threw the beloved Trek on the bike rack and headed for the bike shop. It took a while to get the saddle, pedals, and computer moved over to the new bike, but fitting it took almost no time, and we headed out for our first ride. We rode 15 miles on the bike path, which is relatively flat, but it was amazing how I immediately felt comfortable. The Trek is 20 years old, and I don't think they made D4W (designed for women) bikes then. I was lucky to find a frame that was small enough for me! But everything on the Dolce just fits! The handlebars are a little narrower so I can ride with my hands resting on the hoods, the break levers are smaller and easier to get my hands around, and the paint job is beautiful. So there I was on an afternoon in January, temperature about 68 degrees, cruising down the bikepath in shorts and a jersey, not even a jacket, bonding with my new bike. What a gift! Today Dolce and I rode up and down some hills. It was cooler today, but still hovering around 50 degrees. The gearing is definitely different on this bike, but once again, I felt totally one with the bike, feet, knees, back, hands all working together.

When I bought the bike, I was convinced that the warm weather would end as soon as the bike arrived and we would probably have a blizzard. It looks like this week will bring us closer to "seasonable" temps but I am so grateful that I had these 2 days to get to know Dolce, my Sugar Magnolia!