Monday, April 8, 2013

Get a bicycle. You will not regret it. If you live. -Mark Twain

Ah, that Mark Twain.  He was a clever one, wasn't he?
I have a dilemna and I don't know what to do, so pardon me for a little bit of blog to process my thoughts.
Here are the facts:
I joined a triathlon training group. 
I liked that they were swimming in my favorite pool.
I liked that I didn’t have to look up my own workouts.
I like that I have a coach to tell me what to do.
I do like being pushed out of my comfort zone.
I like exiting my comfort zone at my own speed.
If I were to exit my comfort zone at my own speed, I would probably have dropped out of college almost 10 years ago. 
I am usually pushed out of my comfort zone at a rapid pace, with little warning.
I can adapt to change relatively well.
Often times, the things I don’t necessarily want to do are things that I should do.
My coach wants me to do a triathlon that most of my teammates are doing.
That tri is in 5 weeks.
I am very, very new to biking.
The tri has a bike course that is 2 loops.
The only thing worse than walking my bike up a hill in a triathlon would be walking it up the same hill, twice.
If I am going to do this triathlon, I have to get a bike ASAP.
Shopping for bikes is like shopping for cars. 
That means I don’t know what the heck I am doing.
I did visit 5 places looking for bikes on Saturday.
I rode bikes at 3 places.
I am considering buying from 2 of those 3 options.
I am probably going to spend about half of what I got my car for.
(I bought my car for cheap on Craigslist!)
Still, that is a heck of a lot of money to spend on a bike. 
Am I going to ride enough to warrant the cost of the bike?
I guess that is the real question. 
That and (please forgive me, I rarely use this self-depricating language!!!) "Can I get my fat ass up this hill while on the bike?"

In other news:  Candy crept back in my life this week.  I lost a pound too, but only because I had 433 mins of exercise.  I need to kick candy back to the curb!  Apparently I had bought candy for Easter for my family and I thought I had given it to SwimSis to put in Easter baskets, but I found it in the back of my closet.  Oy. 


Some soul candy.  Love this sweet girl!  She jumped off her bed and onto my back like this :)


9 comments:

  1. Buy a bike! You will love it, it is one of my favorite exercises to do!

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  2. I was bike shopping too and decided against getting a new one for now. I'll stick with my old one. That said, I HAVE and old one. I hate biking, and decided I don't want to invest in a new one until I'm sure I'll stick with it. They are sooo expensive. Plus I'm sure as I get more into biking (if I do), my needs and preferences in terms of what I want my bike to have will change, so I'm going to wait until I know more about the whole thing. I'm joining a triathlon club too! The kick off meeting is Wednesday. It's like we live the same life. :P Have you looked on craigslist or ebay? What about borrowing one from a friend?

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    1. That is a good plan with the biking. I hope you had a great kick off meeting! I wouldn't know a real name brand one on craigslist/ebay from one that has a lot of parts replaced. As it is my weakest area of the tri, I would like to get one that is the exact height I need and is good quality. At least that is what I keep telling myself.

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  3. Oooo, a tri! I am seriously considering doing this, too.

    I have a Novara Carema bike - it's an REI store brand and it is a great little bike. I bought it for $420 from Craigslist. New they are about $1100. (Mine was two years old and had only a handful of miles on it.)

    I also have a Specialized mountain bike, but I do almost all my miles on the road bike.

    Fun!!

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    1. Nice deal! Were you brave enough/knowledgeable enough to buy it on your own from Craigslist? Ok, now going to look on Craigslist again for brands I know!

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  4. I don't do tri stuff and I want a bike. Mostly because my husband has a Trek Madone, and I have a 14 year old mountain bike. Try biking with a 6'3" man on a road bike with THAT. He pedals once for my every 345... I am just waiting for him to fork out the cash for it so I don't have too :)

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    1. Yes, a sugar daddy will be next on my list of things to acquire :) haha I've tried to run with guys before who are tall. Does not work. Ever!

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  5. I am jealous you joined a tri club! I would love to but I haven't found one and I'm not sure that I would be brave enough to do it alone even if I did. I'm doing my first tri this summer and I'm starting to freak about finding the right training plan. What have I gotten myself into?

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