My New TREK 3700

I’ve been wanting to get back into the routine of exercising in the mornings, but walking circles around the neighborhood absolutely bores me to death. About a month ago I started looking around at difference bikes and thinking this might be my ticket to get back into better shape.

At first, I thought I would end up getting my bike from a big store like Target or Wal-Mart. After looking around online and reading some of the biking forums, it was clear to me that those who take biking even a little serious frown on getting bikes from a place that also sells pillows and fried chicken. I was a little bummed when I realized that I would probably end up spending more than I had anticipated, but I got over it and began looking for an “entry level” quality bicycle.

After days of research, it suddenly occurred to me that I should probably make sure there was a good local bike shop in my area. It turns out, The Moab Center was just off the Murfreesboro square and they deal mostly in Trek bikes (which was one of the kinds of bikes I was looking at). It began to look like I was supposed to pick up a Trek.

So I went to the store yesterday to check everything out. I was surprised by just how busy the store was. I had expected to walk into a quiet showroom to find several college-aged guys leaning against the counter, but was relieved to see that there were several customers looking about and friendly staff helping where they could. I was approached immediately and asked if I needed help with anything.

My eyes went straight to the Trek 3700 that I had been looking at online. I talked to the one of the guys that worked there about it and considered my options with the other bikes. I thought I might want to get a hybrid bike (speed of a road bike but with the geometry of a mountain bike), but the guy told me that if I ever thought I might want to take the bike on a trail, I should go with a mountain bike. Since the 3700 was a mountain bike and in my price range, I decided it was the bike for me.

The Moab employee picked out the right bike for my size and encouraged me to take it across the road to try it out. I did so, reluctantly (I haven’t ridden I bike since I was 14), but was ultimately glad I did. I tried out the gears, brakes (which worked much better than I thought they would), and speeding over some bumps and dips. This bike was way beyond anything I had ridden growing up.

One small hiccup was the matter of how to get the bike home. I didn’t want to rely on borrowing a friend’s SUV or truck every time I needed to haul the bike around. I also knew that the bike would not fit in my car no matter what strange angle I might try. So I asked about their bike racks, specifically, the ones that strap onto the trunk of your car. I ended up getting a Yakima SuperJoe 2 (at a discount, since I was purchasing a bike), which straps onto the trunk at six points and can carry two bikes.

I’ve taken my new bike out for a spin a couple of times and so far I’m quite satisfied. I can tell I’m out of shape, but I hope to stick with my morning rides. I think I’ll start carrying my hand held GPS to see just how far I’m going and how fast. If I’m consistent enough, I’ll post my progress here on the blog.