So far I’ve managed about 95 miles on my new Tarmac. Not too bad considering I’ve only been able to get out for three rides on it so far.

After last weeks longer ride with Pete it was painfully clear that I needed to do something about the saddle on the Tarmac. The stock saddle (Specialized Alias) just wasn’t working for me on anything other than really short rides. I did some research and did some asking around regarding potential replacements. I eventually settled on the Specialized Toupe based on recommendations from Mike from City Bikes and Paul from Bike Doctor.

Not having time to make my way across the bridge I decided to stop off at City Bikes and try to snag one in time for my Wednesday evening ride. Mike’s given me some good advice lately even though I don’t often frequent his shop. So I figured it was a good opportunity to support the shop especially since they do so much for MORE.

One of the guys at the shop helped size me up using the handy dandy specialized assometer. According to Mike that is what Specialized calls the tool used to measure saddle width. It’s actually a pretty cool little gadget. It’s basically just a kinda pad that you simply sit on. Based on the indentations you leave and the handy dandy charts on the back you get your correct saddle width. Like most average sized guys I found I needed a 143mm saddle. Luckily for me they had a 143mm Toupe in stock. I was able to get it home and on the bike just in time to make the 6pm shop ride at the Bicycle Escape.

Only three of us, Alex (the ride leader) Mike from the shop and myself decided to brave the weather for a ride. We ended up doing a slightly soggy 20 miles at a reasonably good pace. Alex and Mike were great to ride with. I would have never gone out in the questionable weather had it not been for these guys. I’m looking forward to trying to make this ride a regular part of my weekly ride schedule.

This weekend I’m going to split my time between the road and trails. Lee and I are set to meet up tomorrow morning for a longish road ride and Sunday we’re set to do it again for a laid back trail ride at Gambrill. Should be a great weekend for riding if everything works out as it should…

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