[M_Six]

^^^Great info.

I felt good after riding. In fact I wanted to go back out, but I had to mow the lawn, so chores came first. But I got seriously winded a few times, especially on the hills. I was probably foolish to include two fairly serious hills on my first ride, but I live on a ridgeline, so I'll have to deal with hills on just about any ride. Even the short 3.5 mile ride to work includes one long hill.

We have a perfectly flat trail here that's a converted railroad bed. I need to start making use of that so I can concentrate on technique and familiarizing myself with the bike. It's 12 miles end-to-end and there are numerous points near me where I can access it.

I tried using my iPhone for nav today, but the screen just isn't bright enough. So I may look into the Garmin devices. I really don't need the nav around here since I know this area, but the tracking and data would be useful. What I'd like is some way for my wife to follow along online so if she needs to come get me for any reason (a flat tire or a fall or whatever), she'll know where I'm at.

And yeah, my butt got sore even with padded shorts, but the local dealer where I bought the bike said the same thing, it'll get better. And if it doesn't, he's offered to swap out the saddle until I find one I like. I need to go back to see him this week as he has a rear rack and bag to install.

I'm looking forward to making this a daily (or near-daily) ritual. Despite the few hard lessons today, I really enjoyed the ride. I think sticking to flatter ground for a while will help increase the enjoyment factor.