Following our story of the new-to-her 47 cm Atlantis posted earlier, my wife has been on the bike now 3 days this weekend (and we've still got Sunday afternoon). After picking up the bike during last weekend's inclement (for us) weather, her first chance to get in a decent ride was Thanksgiving day. The drop bars and bar end shifters were new to her so we took the familiar Newport Back Bay loop, a 22 mile RT from our home. She was so comfortable and confident with the bike that she insisted on taking it the next day on an overnight to San Diego with our local club. I suggested that she take her trusty Trek (flat bars, grip shift) but was over-ruled.
Bright & early Friday AM, we dropped our luggage at the start and hopped the train south to Oceanside. This cut the mileage to around 40, a comfortable distance for her. We took all the meandering back lanes I know of to minimize time on PCH and maximize the scenic element. Many of our friends in the bike club had moaned about the dreaded Torrey Pines grade. IMHO this is highly over blown. When we took a rest stop at the park at the base of the grade, I gave her the choice of the main highway or the old road. For those unfamiliar with it, the old road is perhaps one-third the distance so obviously a good deal steeper. There is an interesting museum right at the top, and the views are worth the climb. She opted for the old road and made it to the top non-stop. She was so glad to be on the Atlantis and said she'd have been pushing her Trek, even though it's also fitted with very low gearing. The weather was picture perfect and we arrived in San Diego in plenty of time for some wandering about. She's often ready for a short nap after 40 miles but not Friday. After our group explored Little Italy on Friday night, we rode thru the harbor area and caught the Bayside Bike Trail back up Coronado and the ferry back to downtown. My wife couldn't be happier with the Atlantis and personally supervised its loading into the luggage bin for the bus ride home. We took a bit of ribbing about having matching bikes but it's all in good fun. On the way home she was musing about other potential weekend tours, so I see lots of mileage in the future for Mini-lantis. dougP -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
