First Short Workout Ride on the Sprint

Today I finally had the time to take out the completed 1985 Schwinn Sprint road bike out for a light workout ride. By light workout I mean several things.

First, I haven't had the opportunity to ride this bike more than 750 m around two blocks to make sure that the wheels were solid and the tyres were holding their air (and not ballooning out of the sidewall like when I first installed them in a absent-minded manner).

Second, I haven't acquired a tool kit, or a secondary patch kit for this bike, nor do I have a strap on water bottle cage for this bike (as it has no brazed on mount points for normal bolt on attachments.

Lastly, it was 34° C today and quite frankly the humidity made it feel as if I were basting in an oven. I'd rather bike quasi-lightly today to be able to bike again, another day. This route involves starting at the bottom of a hill (in Hilltown Township) and climbing 29 metres over ¹/₂ km. The are enough flat areas on this route that make it an enjoyable ride, but given that I was always trying to keep spinning, it did take some effort and I did sweat. Hopefully this will subside as it has when i ride my hybrid 30+ km.

The results of the 11 km route I took (on a whim mind you, there was no predetermined plan outside of which direction I was going to head at the start of my journey) were rather interesting. I need to move my seat further back, I need to adjust the height of my seat and ultimately, I need to get better padded gloves as even with the wonderful supportive drop bar wrap from Specialized, I was feeling a bit of pressure in my hands.

It has been a long time since rode a road bike and while I know that I'm a bit out of shape for that kind of riding, I know that I'll be able to start dropping kilos If I keep this kind of workout as part of my regular exercise.

This bike is a success but does need some fine adjustments both to its seat and bars, as well as to the rider who happens to not be used to the harshness of the terrain on this 35 year old back which once suffered two slipped discs. Looking forward to the next ride.