After a solid, elegantly lugged streak of Rivendelling, I finally reverted to Lycra mode this morning:
My reason for doing so was that it was quite wet outside (still raining, in fact, though I didn’t realize that until I left), and as much as I’ve been enjoying riding in everyday clothing, I figure if I’m gonna get soaked while I’m riding I might as well wear Lycra in the same way that if I’m gonna jump in the pool I might as well wear a bathing suit. Some conditions require dressing for the moment.
My Fredly turn also gave me a chance to use my new stealth-colored Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT (as far as I can tell you’re supposed to render that in ALL CAPS). It came with two mounts; I’m using the aero-style one on my plastic bike, and now I’ve got the stem mount on this bike:
I continue to be very pleased with this device, and even though I don’t believe in “training” per se I do enjoy having access to lots of data at my fingertips. For example, while I couldn’t care less about my wattage or anything like that, I do find it interesting to be able to see the gradient of a climb. Also, the text notifications continue to make my life easier (gotta stay connected during a pandemic), and so far it seems to upload my rides to Strava more or less instantly, whereas my popular brand of smartwatch can be hit or miss in that regard.
As for battery life, that remains to be seen, but I’m nowhere near having to charge it yet.
I will say I was somewhat surprised that going from the whole upright Rivendell vibe to the splayed-out-over-the-cockpit-with-your-feet-stuck-to-the-pedals thing was in no way jarring, since usually when I go from, say, a road bike to a mountain bike or vice-versa there’s at least a few minutes of “Wow, this is different!” I think this says more about the Rivendell than it does about this bike; basically, you can have a spirited ride without being stretched out over your handlebars, and indeed the Hilsen is just as much of a “road bike” as the Litespeed is.
Likewise, my love for the Litespeed is undiminished, and there is something about wet titanium that evokes a fogged-up window on a cozy winter morning:
That’s what’s great about riding bikes: there are a lot of ways to go about it, and you don’t have to commit to just one.