I had my first ride in nearly four weeks today as Kuroko and I commuted. There were no mechanicals and everything went smoothly as I got used to a new Garmin GPS. It felt so good to be back on the bike that when I got to the office I made a little extra loop with a small hill climb thrown in just to stretch my legs. And at that, I still reached the office in 45 minutes.

Knock on wood

It was wonderful to have a ride, however brief and utilitarian, free from mechanicals. I’ve had a few recently. But the newly tightened bottom bracket was silent, and the bike is shifting smoothly with the new crankset.

It took me the first half kilometer or so to figure out how to start tracking with the new Garmin. It was displaying a “start recording” icon and I was tapping on that to no avail. Finally I found the button on the edge of the unit with the matching icon, and with a single push on that I was off and running (and tracking). I later realized — when I was waiting a light near the goal — that it wasn’t pausing the timer while I was stopped. And for some reason it was set to mark splits (“laps”) at 8.05km (5 miles), rather than the 5km I’ve been using up to now. I’ve just now spent a few minutes with the online guide and made a few adjustments to the settings.

The next step in preparation for the big ride will be to mount the panniers and go for a trial spin.