I've been anxiously waiting for my in-line brakes for my new road bike, and after one very hard week they're finally on. I couldn't wait to ride my "challenging" bike with my my "safe" brakes.
Before I got the new brakes I was going very slow so I didn't loose my balance while reaching for the drop brakes. The first thing I did when the new ones were on was drive to a park and see just how much I loved my new bike now. It would surely be time to go full throttle.
Oh how wrong I was. probably the biggest mistake I made was choosing a busy pedestrian and dog laden park. The new brakes didn't do anything for my balance, and every time a child would dart in front of me and I said "heads up, I'm new at this!" I could just imagine that child thinking "what the heck, that lady's a hundred..."
This road was probably more geared for walking; there were cracks sealed with tar and parts of it were even brick (no, they weren't yellow...)
Then try playing a game of chicken with a 5 year old little girl on a tiny pink bike as both bikes wobble, and see which one goes off the path... For the record... no, I didn't run her off the road:)
I decided now what I have to do more than anything is spend time on the bike. No magic bullet is going to instantly make me go fast or straight.
Remember how I was saying I would see older ladies zip by me while I was on my other bike... well now I have a supposedly faster bike and I see people on mountain bikes zipping past me.
I didn't see any other wobbly riders (except that 5 year old) and I began to think maybe it's me, because remember I have "balance issues" as it is.
Feeling a little baffled, I went home, got on my computer and Googled "balance on road bike" and it turns out many people struggled with balance for a couple months with a new road bike, and they all said a lot of time spent riding in a safe place will usually make the balance issue go away.
Now that I know this is normal and I'm just as capable as the next guy at riding a road bike, It's time for me to get back out there and clock those hours.
Have a great weekend!!
Christine:)
