Yay for Spring; Bike Suggestions?

This weekend we left the Big City and visited Hubs' family who lives about 1.5 hours away. It was beautiful weather all weekend, and I definitely wanted to get outside while I could because I know that it will cool off again because it is only mid-March. I definitely am getting antsy for the warm weather to really sit in though.

On Saturday, Hubs' mom and I went to look for new bikes. She actually does a lot of biking - as in she is currently in much better shape than I am. Last summer, she and her sister and a couple other friends went on a 275 mile bike trip along the Great Allegheny Passage - often biking around 40 miles a day. Seeing how excited they were after they completed their trip made me realize in part that if you really want to do something, then you can do it. Even if it is more challenging than you could have realized - ie: the tornado that put trees down along a long stretch of the path that they were biking.

Anyway, now she is ready for a bike upgrade and was looking forward to looking at bikes. Originally, I thought that I would use my old bike (the old mountain bike that I got for my 13th birthday) but I am realizing that it is just not feasible. It would be way too tiring. It was really nice to go bike shopping with her and Hubs - and made me super excited to get a new bike.

The bikes were a bit more expensive than I had hoped they would be. I tried several Trek models, and really liked the Trek 7.2 FX wsd. I found a store back in the Big City that still has some 2008 models and that makes them a little more than $100 cheaper. So the plan is to go to the store, look at the 7.2 and then try a bunch of other brands that are similar. Does anyone have any suggestions? I feel like I am sorta rushing into this, but at the same time, I'd hate to miss saving the money on the older model. If anyone has any suggestions at all - brands, good websites, considerations, etc - please please let me know. I definitely know that I do not want a road bike at this stage - so I am in the market for a hybrid.

After getting excited by trying a bunch of bikes on Saturday, Hubs' mom and I went on an 18 mile bike ride along a nice flat path on Sunday. It took us about an hour and 45 minutes. The weather was beautiful - bright and sunny and light to moderate wind. It was around 60 degrees, plus the wind. I rode Hubs' dad's bike and we had a great time. I decided to wear the knee brace because my knee has been bugging me recently. It seemed to help. Towards the end of the ride when my legs began to really get tired, my knee started getting sore, but by the time we got back to the house my knee felt fine. My knee feels good today too, which makes me super happy. After the bike ride yesterday, I was exhausted. It made me a little nervous because I can't imagine going running after that. Being outside and the long workout really got the best of me. My legs were beat, my tush was sore, and I was tuckered out. The good news is that I felt great this morning and all day. No soreness at all and a good night sleep seemed to take care of the tiredness.

This week is a bit of a weird workout week - I guess it is a lesson in flexibility. I worked out on Sunday, which I normally don't do and I didn't work out today. So, Tuesday and Thursday are lifting days. Wednesday will be swimming day and then I'll do some running on Friday hopefully. That's the plan at least.

I'll keep you posted on the bike situation - I'd love suggestions!