All About the Bike

Note: I can't believe I haven't posted since I registered for Iron Girl! I've been training so hard that I've literally been too tired to write. It has taken all my energy just to train, go to work, and spend time with my family. It's a GREAT kind of exhaustion though! Now the race is just a few days away and I'm taking it easy this week, so I'm hoping to write a bunch of the posts that have been floating around in my mind! This is the first of two I have planned for today. Enjoy, and please respond!

When my good friend Candice talked me into this triathlon madness, I knew I'd be able to train for the swimming and running, but the one missing piece of the equation was the bike. I didn't even own one (and neither did Candice!). So one lovely early summer day, we went bike shopping. The trip was educational and fun...and intimidating! I felt so out of place in the bike shop, though I did feel a little part of me deep inside that wanted to belong. Maybe I'll go back there someday and know what I'm doing, and not feel like a complete fool.

Did I mention the fun that we had? Because we cut up like a couple of kids, giggling over everything. We thought it could be fun to do a triathlon on a cruiser.

Okay, maybe not such a good idea. ;-)

We laughed at padded cycling pants (how silly of us....I'm putting a pair of those on my Christmas list because holy wow, does cycling hurt!! hahaha) and we about died when we saw the name of this product:

Oh cycling world, you so funny.

We tried out some great Trek hybrid bikes and figured out the size and style we wanted/needed. Unfortunately the brand-new bikes were a little out of our price range, especially since there was a good chance the bike would be used for one race and then only taken out and dusted off for the occasional family bike ride. We started scouring Craigslist, and Candice found a great deal on the right bike for her almost right away. I did not have so much luck.

After a few weeks, I started to lose hope. I felt guilty spending any money on triathlon when our family budget is always pretty tight. The bikes that I knew would be best for me didn't seem to be cheap enough for me to buy, even used. FINALLY, in the first week of July, we found a bike for me on Craigslist, and the price was right. She was a little old (a 2005 model), but in pretty good shape. I was way behind in my training at this point, but at least I could give it a "tri!"

I've had more than a month now to get acquainted with my bike, and I've grown to love her despite her imperfections. She's pretty slow....okay, I can't blame her for that. I'M slow. Very slow. But that's sort of just my thing right now. ;-) Anyway, the one thing she needs right now, before we make our racing debut together, is a NAME!!!!

Yes, I want to name my bike. I'm the sort of person who names my cars (Helene the Honda was my first, named after my first-ever role in a play, and then Edwin the Escape, named after my favorite singer-songwriter, Edwin McCain), so naturally I want to name my bike. My brain is too tired from triathlon training and I can't seem to come up with any ideas, so here is where YOU come in! I'm having a contest for one of my readers to name my bike! Take a look at the pictures below, and think of everything you know about me, and then give me some suggestions for names. I'll look them all over and make a decision on Friday, so she has a name before I take her to be racked for the race on Saturday. If I choose your suggestion, I'll give/send you a little prize!!! You can post your suggestions here or on the Facebook page. So get to it -- Name My Bike!!