All you bike people
 

hi diddely ho there neighbors, lookout has decided to tackle another hobby. or die tri-ing. *groan* Here's the deal, after a few years goading a couple of people have suckered me into the idea of triathlons. I'm going to give it a whirl in a sprint event in a few months. I've got my training plan in place and all that good stuff. What I don't have is a bike. I've got a regular crappy rider that is doing fine, but I'll need something better before I get to the starting line.

I don't know if I'll survive to ever do this again so I don't want to drop a ton of money on the top of the line gear but I also don't want to buy crap that won't make it up the first hill.

I went to the cycle shop here and after meeting the owner I said, "I need a road bike, I'm going to ride in XYZ race on the eleventy third of june. I have money to buy right now, but I know nothing about bikes. What can you tell me?" He sneered and replied, "what do you want a history of bikes?"

basically he told me he wouldn't give me the time of day even to tell me the differences between his $700 bikes and his $8000 bikes. So screw him. That's what the cellar is for, right?

I'm 5'8" and 150 lbs and I know size is important but I'm not going to drop $200 on a professional fitting when the assholes won't even tell me about the bikes first. What equipment do I need? What equipment is just nice to have? What equipment can I do without now, knowing that if I stick with cycling I'll upgrade/buy later?

I've read about Dawes bikes on some reviews and I know you can pick them up for a song on ebay because they are essentially mass produced knockoffs with cheaper components. I don't know the benefits of a shimano 105 v tiagra v ultegra but I know I need something. So what do I need?

I'm a complete novice. help.

Damn, LO...try another bike shop, one that wants to sell you a bike.

I am more of a mountain bike guy. I can't tell you much other than to be truely competitive in that kind of race you will eventually spend between $1000 and $2000. A co-worker who did his first one said that he felt like a third grader competing against high school students when they wizzed past him on their super light bikes, which is pretty much where I am going with this. The lighter the bike the faster you will go. So you need a super light (weight) bike to compete. Otherwise have fun and good luck on your endevor.

Oh, hell. Compete isn't even a goal, Complete is what I'm more worried about. If the bug takes hold then I'll worry about being able to keep up with these guys. Right now its just kind of an ego thing to see if I can do it.

complete? under your own steam or on a gurney? if A, then see the doctor first.

Why.

I know a tiny bit about mountain bikes, but that doesn't apply to triathalon / racing bikes.
But... what Pico said. In this economic situation, if you walk into a shop and say I have cash to spend, tell me about your bikes, you can reasonably expect damn good service, not snobbery. I hope that fool is on commission.

I cannot understand why anyone would want to do triathalions, though, but good luck.

Thanks. I'm not sure why anyone would want to do it either. I just want to know if I can do it. I may train and fail, but then at least I'll know. I don't have any problem seeing other people and knowing they are better than I am at some activity or skill, it just bugs me when I admire their skill and don't know if I have what it takes to do it.

Anyway, I picked up a Diamondback carbon fiber racing bike with ultegra components which from what I gather is good quality entry level stuff that will hold up under some racing. I spent more than I wanted but I also know if I stick with it I won't have much to upgrade for the next few years.

Today I woke up and had a very enjoyable 10 mile ride and was amazed to find I'd barely broken a sweat while averaging 85 RPM throughout the ride. It felt good even though it was a short distance.

The next major hurtle is I know my swim technique is inadequate to the challenge so I'll be taking some lessons this summer. or drown trying.

I have heard that triathalons are good for people who think they don't have enough suffereing in their lives. Suffer away!


There's a universal sufferage joke to be made here, but I doubt it would be funny.

I have a friend who decided to get into shape in her early 40's by training for a triathlon. She trained for a year and completed just fine.

I don't know what she rode, though. I think your best bet is to go to a meet and see what other folks are riding.

Well shit! I totally missed your original post, I apologise for not replying. Got any pics of your new toy pretty please?? Here is the bike and trainer I bought in '04. I didn't feel the need to buy a "Tri" bike right out of the gate for multiple reasons, although they are purrrrdy. To be perfectly frank, unless you are an elite athlete, the few oz. you save with this frame or that disc wheel aren't worth the $$ IMHO. There are other things that I definately would recommend because they actually do make a difference. I would be happy to share my :2cents: whenever I notice a post. :o

I belong to a tri club that includes people who are doing their very first sprint, to those who have completed multiple Ironman Tri's (including Hawaii!!) and other ultradistance events, so I have a wealth of knowledge I can tap for pretty much any question or concern. Most of them are happy to share their experience. I would recommend the same if you can find a club in your area. I would assume there are multiple ones considering your outdoor sport season is pretty much all year long as opposed to here. :)

I'm not a total tri-newb, but I'm not a "contender" either. (What I call someone who regularly places in their age group or is an overall top place finisher and is generally more competative about this sport than I am) I do finish in the top half of my age group though, (occasionally just out of awards) and am always competing against myself for Personal Bests.

Here's my thread where I have posted about my adventures in the sport of triathlon, we can chat there if you want. Here is the first tri I am doing this year, it's also in June. I haven't decided which others I am doing yet, but I am going to do at least one more later this year.

Train safe!!

Today's paper...

HA!!! Here is an exerpt from an email I sent to a friend telling them about the swim portion of my first tri:

LOL. That makes sense. When you're 1400 meters from shore and your body is tired, your breathing is getting harder, and the panic starts to set in... I can see the heart doing some funky things.

You have to make sure your brain stays in charge, not the adrenaline. The objective is to finish.

Yep. or so I've heard. It's going to be difficult though. I have a hard enough time deciding which of my two heads is in charge, so adding a third component may be tough.

Stay away from mixed triathlons and it'll eliminate one head. :haha:

what'll motivate me to keep going when I'm tired though? Around mile three with 23 to go, having a nice ass to run after is a necessity.

The tri-groupies at the finish line?

mmm...bacon-flavored wetsuit .... mmmmmmmm

2.0 got out of the bathtub and promptly peed on my running shoes. while i was wearing them. and then laughed. that is all.

:lol:



A great link for anyone looking for a tri in their area... USA Triathlon

This past Saturday I had an opportunity to go to a 2 hour running clinic put on by Chris Reed, a USAT-certified coach from the USAT Training center in Burlington, IA.

He began by having us do a series of about 10 different dynamic stretching exercises for ~15 min. Some of the ones we did are seen in this video:
(high knee run; 2nd heel up but with high knees; toy soldier; inchworm but without the chest press at the end; spiderman, the one at 2:55)

Then we did a bunch of drills using an agility ladder. --the camera work in this video is annoying, but it shows a lot of the drills we did.



Then, he had a set of 15 stations set up that we spent a minute each at. These included 3 different jump rope ones; kettle ball lifts; 2 with a BOSU ball (1 pushups and 1 squats holding a medicine ball-- that one was tough!!); rope undulation waves (another killer one!!) a few with free weights or resistance bands; one with bands that went around your ankles that you had to then side step back and forth (killer for your glutes!); a couple with a swiss ball, and a few others I have apparently blocked from my memory.

Then we did a bunch of drills over a series of 24 speed hurdles (8-6" 8-12" and another 8-6") lined up. I tought I was going to have a heart attack after that set...

BUT WAIT!! There's more!!!

We finished by doing 3 sets of 30 sec planks, and then dolphins, which are basically plank, but then moving your butt up and down. These are what did me in.

We finished with some static streching.

For the record, I have never been this sore in my life. The only thing that doesn't hurt still today are my eyelids. His main focus was trying to get us to run more on the balls of our feet, and to this end, he had us doing a lot of high-knee and jumping exercises. My calves were rocks yesterday. The most alarming thing for me though, is that the tendons in the soles of my feet under my arches running to my heels are tender. I knew I was due for new running shoes, but this hard workout on shot shoes actually probably hurt me more than it helped me. I am supposed to do a 10K this Sunday. We'll see how this week goes. :thepain:

hmmmm. You don't say... ;)

The nice thing about feeling like my leg muscles had been replaced by razor wire was that I forgot about my shoulder, heh. Monday I swam for the first time in 2 weeks. It felt fine and is apparently is back to normal. Whew. I also bought new running shoes. :D

Yesterday, feeling less sore, but still not up to a run, so I did 40 min on the bike trainer while watching The Biggest Loser. Then I tried to do some crunches, but lower abs were still too sore. Plank. Invention of the devil himself.

I might, just might try to run today, since I was able to actually get out of bed and walk across the room this morning without my husband making fun of my waddle-walk. It's going to be a gorgeous day, and I hate to waste it.



Lookout, how are you doing??

Did 3 1/3 miles last night. Started easy then finished strong. Walked an additional mile just to stretch everything out and make sure I was OK. My legs feet and calves feel great this morning. Whew!!!

For my 12 miles on the moutain bike last evening I was rewarded with a georgeous sunset and my first bat sighting of the spring.

OMG. For my 3 miles running today, I was rewarded with heatstroke! I'm used to running in the 50's this time of year.

It was 104 here earlier this week.

Yabbut were you out running in it? That's 30-37 degrees higher than all of my other workouts have been...

eta: I see that the average for this time of year is 87 in Phoenix. No wonder you think I'm whiny.

looks like an awesome workout labrat. no wonder you can bounce a quarter off your tummy. i are impressed with how hard you work.

Ha. Thanks LJ, but you must have missed the part where I said I couldn't walk right for almost 4 days after that. :D Definately not a normal workout for me. Did I mention I went home and inhaled anything that wasn't nailed down in the kitchen when I got home? I'd love to know how many calories I burned that day.

Now this is the running weather Imma talkin' about!!! I have been anxiously watching the weather channel, because they were predicting thunderstorms for this mornings run. I don't mind a little rain, it's even kind of fun sometimes. But downpours and lightening aren't my thang. Especially in brand new shoes... Gonna be just a tad humid, but at least the rain is taking a break for us.