ZERO Bike commute to the office and back. About 19 mi round-trip. On the way back, 2 guys on road bikes passed me, one of the guys was particularily large. They didn't seem to be working very hard. I decided to see how much harder I have to pedal on my mountain bike to keep up with them. At my highest gear, constant pedaling with a quick cadence, I could just keep up with them. While they would frequently coast, my legs were constantly in motion and I was getting a light cardio workout. I think I see me owning a road bike in the future. The last part of my commute back home is up the 21st ST hill. It took me about 2-3 years to get into enough shape to be able to run up the hill without walking. So far, my last 3 attempts to bike up the hill failed. I tried climbing up sitting in the saddle at the lowest gears, climbing up while standing on the pedals, and using a slightly higher gear; none of those strategies worked. This time I tried weaving the hill like trail switchbacks and I'm happy to report that it worked! I almost bit it bad on one of the switchbacks when my front wheel popped up due to the steepness. I almost fell off the back of my bike! I used gears 1 and 3 from my 21-speed mountain bike. | 