Santa Cruz Tallboy LC Carbon? First mountain bike?

Trying here to decide on the first mountain bike for me.  At the moment the leading contender is the Santa Cruz Tallboy LT Carbon.  I guess I should call it that, although I want to call it an "LTC" but that name seems so "2014" by now.  Oh wait, we're still in 2014 but with the new 2015 models being released it looks like we're on to the new naming nomenclature.  The Specialized Enduro S-Works was more fun on the downhill but didn't climb nearly as well.  I also tried others like the Specialized Camber but while that climbed pretty well I had no control going downhill.  Any thoughts on if I'm making the right decision?

Mountain bike saddle question...

So what makes a mountain bike saddle any different from a road bike?  I know a road bike saddle is supposed to be comfortable, stiff, lightweight, etc. and I love my Fizik saddle.  But I see there are tons of mountain bike saddles out there and they don't seem to overlap with saddles for roadies.  I get that you might not care as much about shaving grams on an all-mountain or downhill bike, but should the padding come from the shorts and the "give" come from the MTB suspension?

CO2 Cartridges!

So I went to my local REI looking for CO2 cartridges.  They had 16 gram and 20 gram options.  I normally get the 16 gram and I know they have plenty of "oomph" for my road bike but for some reason I want to buy the 20 gram cartridge (they were out).  I'm wondering if they would have enough air to "plump" the tire before I wrap it around the wheel, something I normally do with my mouth on the side of the road.  Here's 1 vote to standardize on 20 gram cartridges for road bikes, they're not just for 29er's anymore!

Shaving Legs vs. Aero Frame

These are the days when I wish I had a degree in physics!  I've been wondering a lot these days about aero advantage.  I'm 6'2" and at 195 pounds I make quite the "sail" when cruising along the flat.  I don't shave my arms, legs, or really anything other than my face.  However, the people to blow past me usually have two things: 1.) matching cycling clothes, 2.) shaved appendages.  I'll ignore them being 30 pounds lighter for the moment.  And it got me thinking, what gives you a more aero advantage?  Shaving those appendages or having an aero frame.  I figure hair and a fat frame both have to induce drag.

So which provides more of an advantage/disadvantage?

Would mountain biking help my road cycling?

I still can't quite figure it out.  I've gone to my share or mountain bike demo days and the legs/lungs don't seem to get a different workout.  It does make me wish that the road universe had an equivalent to the SRAM 1x11 drive train.  It also reinforces that I need to learn how to go downhill better.  I'm neither good at it on a road bike or a mountain bike.  The weird thing is that on a road bike I get nervous will all of the speed -- I get paranoid that my bike is going to slide out from under me.  On the mountain bike speed seems to be a good friend -- it's just about looking for weird things popping out of the ground (pesky roots and ruts).  I guess it worked by lungs a bit more but that wasn't based on cardio, just my nerves likely sending my heart rate up.

Stuck at 18 mph...

That's where I am, stuck at around 18 mph average speed when cycling along the coast.  I'm only 35, it's mostly flat, I'm not that bad, but I can't seem to get to that 20 mph level.  All I want to do is blame stoplights, stop signs, weird traffic patterns that happen when people going to the beach try to parallel park, etc.  But that's not the reason.  I'm just not sure if it's the legs or the lungs.  The big is fine, a Cannondale EVO isn't exactly the slowest or heaviest bike on the planet.  I've been looking around other blogs and evidently I have to learn to ride in the drops, do interval training, etc.  Maybe the"rest days" are going to have to become "stretching days".

Tan-lines on your hands?

Every summer they seem to show up.  Those weird tan-lines that aren't from the tightly hugging bib-shorts but those generated from cycling gloves.  To be fair, I'm sure any "gloved-sport" has the same weirdness pop up but I keep forgetting about them when winter roles around.  It's a whole new sense of surprise when the normal bicep farmer's tan-line gets a new friend on the wrist.  Maybe the real answer is to wear more sunblock...or get a better tan all around...

A "Fred"? What the heck...

I've never been called a "Fred" but I just learned that's what people call either 1.) a cycling noob (like me) or  2.) someone who has gear way up their skill level (since I suck, also me).  I guess I'm a "Fred" at the end of the day.  Now I like to go and think back on all of those solo cycling adventures I've had an try to remember if I've ever heard F-R-E-D shouted at my by a passing mini-peloton of club riders.  Or maybe I should join that mini-peloton so I wouldn't be a "Fred"...

Specialized S-Works Road Cycling Shoes + Big Feet = No Fun

So here I am contemplating buying a new pair of cycling shoes.  I don't "need" them, I know they won't make me go any faster, I just kind of want them.  Here's the challenge, they cost $400.  It's an insane amount and I'm nuts for thinking about it but hey, why not try them on?  Here's why not...

1. I have oddly wide feet.  So I can't go for a standard size and ordering shoes online is always a pain because you never know which size will actually end up fitting the best.  
2. Only boutique dealers (which is a good thing) are going to be selling cycling shoes that retail for $400. So I have to hunt around and see who stocks them.
3. Nobody has actually bought my size so I can try on up to a 13 (which are a little snug) but out of the 3 local bike stores I went to nobody had the next size up.

So here I am, stuck, not wanting to risk a 10%-20% "restocking fee" if I order a pair of shoes that happens to not fit.  I guess that means I'll be using the old shoes for now and Specialized will get their $400 from someone else.

I don't think my feet will hate me, too much...

Specialized S-Works Road

Fizik Pak saddle bag disaster!

So there I was, going up a tiny incline in Encinitas when something hits my shoe.  I can't figure out what it is at first but then looking around I see that my little Fizik saddlebag was gone.  User error you think?  Nope, the plastic just snapped.  Just plain snapped.  So down to the ground my little saddlebag went along with everything inside it.  Luckily, other than a garage door opener there wasn't anything breakable.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/us/en/fizik-saddle-pak-clip/rp-prod10081

I guess I'm not the only one...

Indoor trainers...

So I have an indoor cycling trainer.  It's great.  It lets me get a good little workout when it's dark, raining, etc. I would say "when it gets cold" but since I live in San Diego, it never gets that cold.  So there's the tricky thing.  It's addicting and it's too easy.

Addiction
It sits there.  I can hop on it whenever I want and pump out a quick 30 minute spin.  But that's just it, I'll never get on it for a 2-4 hour ride.  And I don't want to take my bike off of it, replace the skewer, wheel it through the house, etc.  So I find myself in a cycling rut whenever I have the bike in there.  Not to mention it wears down the tires like a crazy machine...

Too Easy
I think this is "user error" but I can't get a trainer to match the effort required on a good climb.  Or the thrill and humiliation of being passed on a flat and trying like heck to keep up until my legs fall flat.  That tiny visceral sense of competition.

So there you have it, my tiny complaints about using an indoor trainer...