I eventually worked up the courage to install clippies on my racing monster. All the Youtube videos tell you that you’re going to fall, so just suck it up and deal. “You’ll forget that you’re clipped in when you stop, just go with it.” they say. Well ok then.

Once again, decisions to be made. Bike gear is, in my opinion, douchy at best. Between the crazy skin tight graphic jerseys and the shiny strappy shoes, it’s a toss up. Throw in Go Commando shorts and the space helmet and you have yourself the perfect outfit that screams “you’re simply trying too hard!" The shoes clack when you walk in them, the cleats that are installed on the soles to fit into the clippy pedals causes this. I really do not want clacky shiny shoes!

Fortunately, road racers have a cooler cousin known as the mountain biker. While the image conjured of a road racing team is of an F1 race car, it’s mountain cousin is that of an all-terrain jeep. After some research, I chose a pair of mountain bike shoes, black of course. The Shimano pedals and cleats that fit the shoes are cool and clack-free.

The learning curve was not as steep as I expected, even for someone my age. And I was completely paranoid about falling so I focused when I approached intersections. I haven’t fallen at a stoplight to date.

Fall I eventually did. In my own driveway at the end of a ride with my eldest. My driveway is an incline, my left foot was still clipped in as I step off on my right. Handlebar turned left ever so slightly when I braked, I felt my balance leaning left. I knew I was going down, said "oh shit!” and relaxed. I looked up to see my daughter’s jaw completely ajar and I started laughing. That didn’t help.

As much as I love my Quick6, she wasn’t what I rode in the duathlon. Kids, don’t try this at home…4 weeks before the race, I bought the girl version of the 2014 Bike of the Year and rode her in the race! You can read all about the bike here…

http://www.bikeradar.com/us/road/news/article/cannondale-synapse-5-wins-cycling-plus-bike-of-the-year-video-40347/

I didn’t seek her out to buy her. I had read the article and felt “proud” that a Cannondale had won that accolade in a highly competitive market (like I had anything to do with it!). I’m always looking around for deals but Cannondales are rarely on sale.

The stars were aligned with me and her though. I was just browsing the website of a bike shop in my area that was named Best in Class for bike shops. I saw a line (no photo) for a Womens Synapse 105 ON SALE IN MY SIZE!! THERE WAS ONLY ONE!! Ok I know I’m yelling, but thinking about it still sets me off. My race was only weeks away, it was meant to be.

is a Cannondale.

It was love at first sight.

Being in my biz, I’m fortunate enough to know people with excellent taste. The friend that introduced me to my first love doesn’t even ride. She just loves the way it looked. And who can blame her, the Delta V1000 with it’s unpainted polished aluminum frame is to die for. Even after all these years, I get chills just looking at it. Here’s the entire catalog, feel free to drool.

http://vintagecannondale.com/year/1994/1994.pdf

I settled for the much more affordable H300. She’s was my first big girl bike, a large hybrid, solidly built. She was a deep metallic green. In low light, she looked black. I was in love. I carried her up and down apartment stairs. We toured parks and neighbourhoods, happy as a lark. She moved with me, twice. I kept her for 20 years. She became our only mode of transportation for 6 weeks after hurricane Sandy hit and our car drowned. Except for a few inner tube repairs (which I learnt from YouTube), nothing else fell apart.

But all things must come to an end. The older you get, the heavier everything seem to get. And my girl was HEAVY. She took effort to ride. It was time for other options.

Her successor is a Quick6 hybrid, matte silver. Cannondale has always done a fab job of innovating, without sacrificing hotness whilst keeping prices reasonable. My new girl doesn’t disappoint.

I kept my first love for a while, thinking that I’d hand it down to my girls. But after riding the Quick, it became obvious that she was actually the wrong frame size for me. She was too big!