In no other sport in which I've competed has equipment had such a large effect on finishing time as a triathlon. I'm not used to losing due, in part, to opponents spenting thousands of dollars more than me on better wetsuits, bikes, carbon fiber this, and aero that. Well, now that I feel like I've committed myself to the sport, I've decided to go all in. I went to BikeSport, a triathlon bike specialty store in Dearborn, to get an exact fitting. I ended up getting a 2006 Cervelo Dual on sale. Here's a list some of its features:
It's a great bike for the price, and if I can't place well with it, then it's not the bike; it's me. And that's all that I'm asking for—an even playing field. I've got one more triathlon in a week, and I've been hitting the roads trying to get accustomed to riding in an aero position. The trickiest thing has been staying on the bike. I haven't fallen off yet, but there is a lot less control over a tri-bike than a road bike. It's much harder to steer with your elbows at the center of the head tube, and it doesn't help to have the brake levers on a different set of handles than the shifters. Of course, I was just as fearful when I took my road bike out for the first time, and now it's second nature.
Date | Events | Location |
---|---|---|
2/10 | swim meet | Brighton |
2/17 | swim meet | Grand Haven |
3/2 | swim meet | West Bloomfield |
3/16 | swim meet | Milford |
3/30 | YMCA Indoor Tri | Ann Arbor |
4/5 | 10k | Martian Meteor |
4/18 - 4/20 | 1650 free, 1000 free, 500 free, 200 free, 100 free, 200 IM, 100 IM |
State meet @ EMU |
5/4 | 10k | Burns Park Run |
6/1 | Half Mary | Dexter/A2 |
6/8 | Sprint | A2 Tri |
7/13 | Sprint | Waterloo |
8/2 | Half IM | Steelhead |