Yay for pipe wrenches!!!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I recently bought a road bike, but I've been having a bitch of a time getting the old pedals off. Thankfully my partner is a genius and he told me to make a pipe wrench (put a length of pipe on the end of the wrench to increase leverage). So I wandering over to lowe's; picked up a piece of iron pipe (1" width, 36" length) and Voila!! I got the pedals off my new bike, got the pedals off of frankenbike (my re-built mountain bike) and switched them! So now I finally have clipless pedals on my road bike (which is much nicer than the old platform pedals I've been using).

Next: Get the bike properly fitted to me. Cost $100. Ouch. But worth it to make sure that the bike fits properly and my mechanics are right. This isn't as important if I'm only using the bike for commuting for 5-10 miles/day, but this bike is going to be used for fun long rides (such as the Little Red Riding Hood Ride next weekend; a women's only century ride).

By the way, for anyone who has ever considered getting into riding, but gave up after trying to do long rides on their cheap mountain or commuter bike, go get a real road bike. The difference is similar to driving a windy mountain road in a 16 passenger van versus a porsche. You go from plodding to flying. It's totally worth the investment.