STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

jah · Dooney & Bourke

Team in Training

gingembre1 · Kate Spade

i did it! Loved it! Doing it again in Spring. Let me know if you have any questions.

As for bikes, I love my Giant OCR1-women's specific. It's $1400, and it's a great bike. Really love it. Many of the people on my team had the same bike. But I would recommend going to a shop and trying a bunch of different makes, and then stalking craigslist. You can get some great deals that way.

On a different note, are you really set on the cycle team? I'd really recommend the tri team...it's much more social, you get to do a bit of everything, and the training is more intense.

jah · Dooney & Bourke

Thanks gingembre1! I would love to do the tri, but unfortunately, I hate swimming. I run a lot and think I will like cycling because I like mountain biking, but just can't do the swimming thing because I'm terrible at it. I hope to take lessons this summer, but wanted to get into TNT after the holidays. Maybe I will do the tri after my swimming lessons, but right now I'm pretty set on cycling. Thanks for the info... I had heard that the tri was a better group from a social perspective - much better than the marathon training - which I was told is mostly women, older demographic, often sedentary. Is this what you saw in the cycling group as well?

gingembre1 · Kate Spade

Jah- A lot of people go for the other teams because of the swimming aspect, but we had a number of non-swimmers on the team (and by non, I mean people who couldn't swim a lap, didn't know how to breathe, kept sinking, etc) and the swim coach works individually with people. And the swim is pretty much insignificant as far as the overall triathlong goes. Plus, take into consideration that you would be wearing a wetsuit, which is basically a flotation device - seriously, you couldn't sink if you tried. So basically you would float through that part of the race, and just use your arms and legs to move you forward.

Alright, enough pusing the tri team.

As for the cycle team, I haven't really heard anything, but I can tell you what I observed, since we rode past the team on a number of our rides. It was an older demographic, and people just didn't look like they were interacting with each other. But a lot depends on where you live...which team would you be joining? I'm in the SF Bay Area, and the SF team is much younger, very social (again, this is the tri team, but I'm guessing it would extend to the other teams as well), and there are some great rides out that way. I'm on the East Bay team, and while the demographic is a bit older, we have a good contingent of younger people.

jah · Dooney & Bourke

Thanks for all the info! I'm in San Diego, so I would be joining that team. I went to one of the info meetings and it was a lot of young people, but they have a lot of meetings, so that doesn't mean the "end number" will be young. I'm going to consider the tri... I can swim, I am just not a good swimmer. I'm going to look into some private lessons at my gym this month and next to see how that goes... if it goes well, I'll join the tri. Swimming is great exercise, so that is incentive too!

Thanks again!

Jamsicle · BCBG

I've heard that Giant makes nice mountain bikes.. I used to road bike a lot, and I am partial to Cannondales. A lot of people where I live in BC just have their bikes custom made out of various parts- its not that expensive, and if the bike shop making it is savvy enough, you can end up with a higher end bike for the price because a lot of companies do particular things well but not others and you can combine the ones that work for what you're doing.

I don't know if this is a problem in Cali, but in British Columbia the bike theft is HUGE. If you're going to be locking your bike anywhere in public, I would absolutely have two locks- a cable lock to go around all the components and hold them together, and at least a kryptonite lock to lock the frame. And get insurance on your bike! Up here we also have a program where you can get your bike engraved with a serial number by the local police and have it registered so that if its stolen, its easier to track. Since I don't know anyone who hasn't had a bike stolen at some point, I think its a worthwhile investment!

gingembre1 · Kate Spade

De nada.... The San Diego tri team was definitely on the younger side, and they looked like they had a lot of fun. Plus you'll get to do your open water swims in La Jolla Cove...doesn't get much better than that!!!!

Cannondales are great bikes too. They just tend to be really pricey. But like Jamsicle said, you can have a bike made up from various parts...my brother was going to do that for me, but I joined TNT so last minute we didn't have time to compile all the parts. I'd really only go for this option if you have a really great relationship with a local, reputable bike shop who will give you a good deal, or if you know a good bike mechanic who's willing to do this for you, since they'd be the ones doing all the research and finding the parts.

And I can't say it enough, but you shouldn't let the swimming aspect hold you back. They'll have coaches who will work with you one on one, and the wetsuits make a huge difference. Plus the spring triathlon is ranked number two in the world for favorite triathlons, and it's supposed to be tons of fun.

gingembre1 · Kate Spade

Hey Jah, did you sign up for TNT yet?