My new track bike was ready yesterday. I had asked the shop to put road bike bars on it and take the track bars off (I'll switch them out when I go to the velodrome), and they installed a front brake and put hoods on the road bars for resting my hands. Last night I took my new toy out for its first spin. The first 3 or 4 times I clipped out of a pedal at a stop light, I had a hard time clipping back in because when the wheels are moving, the crankset is also moving. So I had to chase the pedal around and around until my foot caught it. Then I figured out that if I clip in as fast as possible, I can catch the pedal before it starts moving.

Then I did what every newbie does on a track bike - I tried to stop pedaling when I rolled over some bumpy pavement. This is what I do on my road bike. The pedals kept moving and I had to react quickly. I also learned how to keep pedaling over railroad tracks.

I realized after half an hour that my legs were not going to have a chance to rest during this ride.

Going down the first steep hill, I had to pedal at a cadence around 130 rpm, and that got me laughing at how goofy it felt.

By the time the ride was over, I had quickly improved at slowing the bike down without using the brakes (by putting backward pressure on the pedals).

My goal is to be strong enough on this bike to hang with a regular road bike group ride without getting dropped.

And maybe I can learn how to do a real track stand!