My Madone, and other purchases

I picked up my gorgeous new Trek Madone 5.1 this afternoon. I had 165's put on, a 38cm handle bar, black bar tape instead of white, and I kept my SPD's but got the single-sided roadie pedals instead. I'll get used to the flip I guess. Then I got fitted and took it for a quick spin in the rain to make sure everything was feeling ok. Wow, I loved it even in the parking lot. The weather was crummy and my quads were still a bit tight so I decided not to ride it home.
When I got home, I took a few 'naked' pictures and then put my seatbag, bento box, aero bar, mini-pump, and Garmin sensors on. Sweet. This is one awesome looking bike - sleek and sexy, even with all my stuff on it! 


Finally I was ready for a quick spin around the neighbourhood before supper. First off, I could not believe how smooth and effortless it was to ride - the road just disappeared beneath me. When I gave it a bit of a push, wow, was this bike responsive! It was easy to get up to 40kmh on the flats and hardly feel like I was working. Finally, I had to try it out on a hill, so I rode down Steele where I often do repeats and I know my data. I easily rode about 14 kmh all the way up the hill - that's a climb that always slows me down to 9.5-10 kmh in the last 3rd. Yahoo! And I was happy with the compact double. Slipped into the lowest gear, but it was still spinny enough. I didn't feel like I was mashing. Of course the real test will be climbing Gordon Hill. I'm curious to see what kind of time I can make, and whether or not I'll miss the low gears of my triple. Time will tell.

In Other Shopping News...

I picked up a few other handy items this week. First off was some Body Glide - apparently a necessity for wrestling with the wetsuit. I'd like to try it as chamois cream as well and see if it's as good as the messy stuff. I did use some for my run but quite frankly, I don't chafe when I run 5k so I have no idea if it was actually effective. It didn't feel sticky or noticeable though so that was a good sign.

Another excellent buy was Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch Sunscreen SPF 30. After the severe sunburn I got 10 days ago (remember the sun??), I decided I really should start wearing sunscreen, but I despise the sticky, smelly stuff. I decided to drop $12 and try a relatively small tube of this dry touch sun screen and hey, it was awesome! I even put some on my face and it didn't gross me out. I can see myself actually willing to wear this so it's worth the money I think.
I finally bought myself a fuel belt so I can carry some water with me now that the temps are getting hotter and my runs are getting longer. I decided to go for the two 10 oz bottle size instead of the 4 because I don't think I need that much and it will be lighter. I like the little pocket too - I can put my ipod and other stuff in there. Gotta figure out some way to carry my honking big epipen though. I might try to find a way to strap it on the outside but I definitely don't want it to dangle and bounce. For now, I'll have to stick with keeping it in my back pocket or in my sports bra even though it gives me a weird boob profile. LOL...

Last but not least, I traded the black running cap that I won in the 5k race on Sunday, for a nice white one. I thought it was serendipitous that I had been thinking about buying the fuel belt and a white hat on Saturday, but opted for the belt only, being too cheap to spend $20 on the hat. Glad I won one! Here it is. Pretty.
Pain Update

My quads were definitely complaining yesterday and last night, my lower left leg hurt just above the achilles tendon. They were still tight when I got up this morning so I skipped my regular Tuesday run. They seemed to loosen up as the day went on though and I think they'll be feeling pretty normal by tomorrow. If so, I'll go for a short, easy run on Thursday.