I love my new bike!

So a few days ago I put down a deposit for a new Cervelo P2, which I was planning to get after I returned home from Hawaii. But I had a ride on the schedule for this weekend and I couldn't bear the thought of ever riding my road bike another.freaking.mile. So I rearranged my schedule to run on Saturday morning, buy and get a fit on my new bike on Sat afternoon, and then ride it this morning.

This turned out to be the best upgrade I've ever made. I think I mentioned this in the title, but I LOVE MY BIKE.

It feels like I just upgraded to a high-end BMW. It's stiffer and more responsive, but it also floats. Such a smooth ride. The biggest difference is the seat position... wow. The front of my seat is directly above the crank set on the Cervelo, whereas my seat is a full 2 inches behind the crank set on my road bike. So not only is it more comfortable (my hip flexors are much less crammed and I'm not reaching so far to get into aero) but I get more power with each pedal stroke. Which means I'm faster.

The other change was getting an 11/28 rear cassette, which makes for easer (and slightly faster) climbing. The only thing I'm not faster on is the downhills... definitely slower at the moment. Two things I miss from my road bike: descending in the drops -- it will take a while to build up the confidence to fly downhill in aero -- and being able to shift gears while my hands are on the brakes. Getting used to shifting in aero is going to be a process! I'm fine if I'm on a flat, but descending I'm pretty much stuck in whatever gear I put it in before I headed down the hill. Hopefully I'll get better about that over time!

So... I actually feel better about the bike portion of next weekend's race. I'll still use the rental P1, but as it has the same geometry as a P2 I know I'll be far happier (more comfortable and faster) on it than on my old road bike. I'll take a practice run downhill from Hawi on Wednesday -- totally nervous about the 25 - 35 MPH gusting crosswinds! Never have I encountered much above 13 MPH. This should be interesting.

Stay tuned, I'll have a bunch of fun posts and pics from Hawaii! I leave on Tuesday... can't wait. And when I'm back home, first on the agenda is cleaning up and selling my road bike and a few other odds & ends to pay for my splurge this weekend!