a new road bike

i've been biking almost every weekend (rain or shine) since i fixed up my bike in august (i've missed 3 weekends, two of them over the xmas break), so i estimate i've been riding for about 17 weeks.  in that time i've managed to log 770 miles (according to my old sigma BC 1606L bike computer).  that puts me at about 45 miles per week.  after daylight savings time ended and it started getting dark really early, i stopped commuting into work on my bike.  instead i've just been riding for about 30 to 50 miles on the weekends.

so i used the mileage above to help justify buying a new road bike.  after test riding a bunch of bikes, and spending an obscene amount of time looking at bikes online, i narrowed it down to two choices.  bicycle outfitter (in los gatos) had a 59 cm '09 bianchi vigorelli and and chain reaction (in redwood city) had a 57 cm '09 gary fisher arc pro.  both bikes were the same price, had comparable components, and both road really well.  also, i really liked the customer service at both shops.  after much consternation i ended up getting the '09 gary fisher arc pro.

now that i've spent a bundle on a new bike, the goal is to keep riding at least as much as before, preferably more.  today i took the bike out for a 16 mile ride on some roads i'm familiar with and i'm really happy with it's performance.  my only complaint so far is that my old bike saddle had much more padding than my new one, a change that will take a little getting used to.  i'm really looking forward to taking it out for a 50 mile ride this weekend to see how it feels over longer distances.