One of the first things I changed when I picked up my Trek Valencia was to switch out the pedals and saddle for the ones from my old bike.

The original saddle


My old Specialized Body Geometry (BG) Comp saddle


The pedals that came on the bike


And, my old Nashbar Special MTB peddles


These pedals are all beat to hell, but I still like them. I'm thinking about upgrading to some Crank Bros Egg Beaters, but I haven't decided.



On April 3rd, I posted about adding bar ends. But, a couple weeks ago, I switched out the grips that came on the bike for a pair of Specialized Fuse Locking (Double Density) Grips. They're a little longer than the grips that came on the bike, so I had to remove the bar ends. But, I'm still not used to riding - it's been almost 9 years since I've been on a bike and that was a road bike - and being able to change my hand position really helps with hand and arm fatigue.



So, the other day, I picked up a pair of Specialized Body Geometry (BG) Contour Locking Grips - even though I'm really not sure if I like contour grips, which is why I switched to the straight grips in the first place. Granted, they're women's grips, but they're about the same size as the grips that came on the bike, which means I can put the bar ends back on.

I think I know why I haven't been able to stick to an exercise schedule. When I first started out back in October, I was all gung ho about it and got a little carried away. I started out by working out on the Bowflex every other day and walking (just a mile, though) almost every day. This time I'm making myself take it easy.

I found this training website - Couch-to-5K - with a schedule that's supposed to help you go from being a couch potato to running in a 5K. During Week 1, you walk for 5 minutes to warm up, then you jog for 60 seconds and walk for 90 seconds. Repeat the jog/walk 6 times for a total of 20 minutes. You do that 3 times the first week - Monday, Wednesday and Friday. During Week 2, you still do the 5 minute warm up, but you jog for 90 seconds and walk for 2 minutes and repeat for a total of 20 minutes. You progressively jog more than walk until you can jog/run a full 3 miles. I'm following this, but I'm pacing myself. I'm not moving on to Week 2 until I can jog for the full 60 seconds without stopping.

I'm planning on only working out 1 or 2 days a week and riding 1 day. I really Love riding and the River Legacy Trails are great (although not as long as White Rock Creek/Lake Trails), so that will be tough. The main thing is, I need to only exercise on alternating days and have a complete day of recovery between.

I went for another ride at River Legacy today. I only rode 4.88 mile because my butt still hasn't fully recovered from Sunday.

I road at River Legacy Trails again. I rode 9.28 miles, average speed was 12 mph and max was 18 mph. My ass still isn't used to riding, but I'm getting there.

I was going to ride yesterday but the weather was supposed to be bad. Actually, that's not the real reason why I didn't ride. I didn't ride because I was too lazy.

Yesterday morning, I put my bike, helmet, shades, shoes, socks and Camelbak in the car and then drove to River Legacy Trails after work to ride. It was great, but I only rode about 3 and a half miles because my butt and hands (I don't like riding with gloves) weren't used to riding. Plus, I'm still tweaking my bike fit. Plus, I forgot to put the floor pump in the car and my tires were a little low, and I didn't want to waste a CO2 cartridge.