Biking on the road?

After going to bed at 7 last night (I really do need my 8 hours of sleep and I was lacking after the trip to Mobile and Atlanta) I was feeling much better. I carried the Crown Jewel (Road Bike) to work today in hopes I would be able to get away in time to make the Watermelon ride at Oak Mountain. I was able to leave and got there a bit early. I got ready and decided against wearing the camelback as I knew we had to be back before 7 and that limited the ride to about an hour or so. I really didn’t know what to expect but Barbara suggested I ride with Cal so I took off with them. I have never riddent his bike on the road before (other than the test ride that was just up an alley and back). It felt really good and I was a lot more comfortable than I thought. We were moving at a pretty comfortable pace and with the weather very nice, the ride was very comfortable and relaxing. I noticed I was very comfortable and had no trouble with any of the climbs (yes I was actually a bit worried as the bike is geared differently.

A couple of things I noticed on this ride:
For some reason I seemed to fall behind on the descents. Even if I was tucked down and Cal was sitting up, I would not gain on him at all.
I also was getting a bit sore in the arms and shoulders. This may just be because I am not used to the riding hand position. I tried to keep my shoulders and elbows loose, but I think I may be stretched out just a bit too far. I will have to ride more to see.
Lastly, I think I could stand to have a larger gear. This is not something I will be changing at any time in the near future, but I may check to see what my options are. I was wishing for one more gear a few times, but I may just need to get use to spinning at a slightly higher RPM.

I had an excellent time and will definitely go for a few more rides. I can definitely see how it would be easier to train on a road bike. My average HR for this ride was 140 for an average speed of slightly over 15 mph. This is significantly less than a normal Mountain Bike ride. I think I have a bit more, but I don’t know how much, so I will have to go on a few more rides to see.