Drop It Like It's Hot

Most of my training for Bike & Build I have spent on the road trying to get as many miles in as possible. This is my first road bike ever, so it was tricky getting used to some of the differences between road bikes and pretty much any other kind of bike. The bike I had before this one was a Electra Deluxe, or in other words, a show boat. Those tires could ride over shards of glass and arrive unscathed. I never had to worry about real problems like flat tires or skipped gears. The one downside was a total inability go fast. That bike had only one speed: casual.

Now I have a road bike that has more than one speed, and, baby, this thing has a need for speed. Part of what makes a road bike faster is the position that you ride the bike in. On my cruiser the swooping handle bars keep you sitting up straight, which is nice for looking stylish, but not so great for aerodynamics. My road bike is not only light and streamlined, but it has drops.

Drop handlebars are those funny looking horns on the end of what otherwise look like normal handlebars. Drops were confusing thing to me for three reasons. I could not understand A) why anyone would want to lean over that far B) how to keep my crotch from going numb while in the drop position C) how to not run into things. I fixed B by changing the height and angle of my saddle. C took some practice on my part. But A – man, I learned about A the first time I road into the loop on Jackson Blvd.

Putting yourself into the drop position takes some practice before it becomes comfortable, but I found it was easier once I realized that I could still reach my brakes and shift gears without switching my hand position. Getting yourself down even those few inches lower does cut down on wind resistance, but is also brings your body closer to your legs in a position somewhat similar to a frog. In this position you can transfer much more power from your legs to pedals, which makes you go really fast! It's not to kind of thing you want to do while you're dodging other cars in traffic, but this day on Jackson Blvd I had to whole bike lane to myself and skyline of Chicago stretched out before me. I wanted to see how fast I could go. As it turns out, pretty damn fast.

I have always admired cyclists for their ability to use their own power to take them from place to place, but for some reason I always thought it was a sacrifice on their part. Like look at those poor cyclists, relinquishing the automobile so that the rest of us can breathe clean air. Now I know better. Cyclists aren't being noble. Secretly, they're have waaaaay more fun than the rest of us. And I sort of feel like I'm part of the secret-fun-of-cycling club.