Thanks for fielding my dad’s query about the bicycle. It’s a 2008 Trek 3700 mountain bike w/18″ frame. Used very little. I posted it today on Craig’s List. Asking $325.00 with helmet and cable lock.

I ran into Matt (he is used to it) on the Firecracker Ride yesterday. His new gig after The Spin Cycle shut down is operating as Cycle Surgeon.

He rolls his own mobile repair unit, which includes picking up your ride at your doorstep. He doesn’t sell bikes, so you are getting an unbiased opinion. Emergency repair? Just dial 911 919 819 1060.

Registration for the Spin Cycle 17th Annual Firecracker Ride is now available online.

When: Saturday July 4

Presented by: Capital Cycling Club

What: 100k and 50k ride

Hibernian has a buffet lunch afterwards, and Goodberry’s is offering free ice cream to the first 700 registered riders.

CCC will post more info on their site here.

Our very own Forrest Gump, newly BQ’d, is riding in the 2009 Tour de Cure.

You can support him and the fight against diabetes by visiting his personal web page.

Hello friends! I will once again be cycling in the American Diabetes Association’s Tour de Cure fund-raising event on June 6th and 7th, 2009. I plan to cycle 200 miles over the two days.

Please support me with a tax-deductible donation by selecting the “Click Here to Sponsor Me” link.

Our efforts will help set the pace in the fight against diabetes. So let’s get in gear and bike to beat diabetes!

Thank you very much.

For those of us that need some help polishing our biking skills, watch this video and take a few notes. Make sure to click HQ to watch in high quality.

Tomorrow at 10 AM EST I am going to head off solo for my first big ride of the year and do the Spin Cycle Firecracker Ride. The weather is looking fantastic and I have a hall pass. Since I really love you guys and want to bring you along, the best I can do is to test out a few technologies – using my iPhone to track via GPS and post it live to the web. You can post your smack talk about my pace without leaving the comfy confines of your climate controlled office.

If you are of the type that can watch paint dry, you can watch my progress through three North Carolina counties – Wake, Harnett, Chatham, then finally back to Wake – over approx 66 miles. It will record a max of 100 data points, so 3 minute intervals *better* be enough to cover it. If you see it stop in front of Chipotle on Kildaire Farm for more than 5 minutes, you know I’m eating lunch.

I may get fancy and shoot a few pics and post them to Twitter en route.

Click here or the map above to be taken to the live tracking link. Click here for a map of the Firecracker route.

They are getting some great press!

The best running group in Raleigh, Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham and Morrisville turns 2 today. Happy Birthday!

Thanks to all the runners, triathletes, swimmers, cyclists, stand-up comedians, and psychiatrists for keeping us all healthy, fast, and laughing our lungs out!

Whats in store for 2009? A lot of us are doing our umpteenth marathon, an Ironman (our first or our dozenth, definitely not our last), open water swims, half marathons, sprint triathlons, international triathlons, group spin class, triathlon clinic, brick, or otherwise.

We are traveling and competing around the country, around North Carolina, mostly getting together for the classic Saturday morning run at either Umstead Park or Shelley Lake, with some American Tobacco Trail runs, Whole Foods / Meredith College runs, and our Spring/Summer/Fall bricks out at Jordan Lake.

I hope everyone has a great 2009 year running, swimming, cycling, and triathloning. Check out the 2009 racing season post to see what everyone is up to!

When: A later start – 7:30am   an extra hour to digest 

Weather: High 30′s – no precip

My electronic coach tells me I was supposed to do 4.5 hours of Zone 1 – 3 on Sunday. Well, I didn’t quite get around to it, so I’m heading off tomorrow morning. A 17 MPH pace for 4.5 hours is a LONG DAMN WAYS!

Some possibilities:

- Group Ride

- Group Brick (Duke Half Course)

- Splash in the water at New Hope Overlook after the Brick.

Thoughts?

Post requests here!

Anyone riding today?

When: After a 2.4M swim

Who: Rap Master Sass

Anyone else?

Good luck Rap Master!

If anyone is doing a ride, post info in the comments and I will update the post to reflect that.

No, not that kind of ride. Caught you looking though!

When: TBD

Where: TBD

Distance: TBD

Placeholder for the group ride being discussed.

I’m going to start posting a Sunday “Group Ride” post as well, since at least a few of us will be riding every Sunday. At least it will be a place to discuss the weekend ride options.

When: 6:45 AM

What: Approximately 2 hour ride, 30 minute run, 30 minute swim

Why: Prepare for White Lake Half

Weather: Mid 50s to mid 60s for bike, water temp probably mid 60s

Cost: $5 (At the gate)

*** RECAP: Wow that was JUST what the doctor ordered. After a little triangulation figuring out where the Ebenezer boat launch area is, we all joined up. While gearing up, I realized that I hadn’t packed my cycling shoes. Doh! The Sandbaguette had a Book Club gathering and the ladies were muching on lasagna and wine until well past a proper bedtime hour for 5:30 AM roll call. Hence I wasn’t quite collected when the alarm went off.

After a 45 minute high speed multi-county cannonball run for my cycling shoes, I caught up with the rest of the group. The had gone from the boat launch to Pea Ridge and Old #1 and back. The timing was perfect.

Off we went down Beaver Creek, to Old #1 again, over to Sharon Harris past the Lineman Rodeo (you know, the electrical power pole jockeys – yes, they have a rodeo for EVERYBODY).

Forest Gump kept it well reigned in as I was trying to convince him to layup on Duke Half rather than do Pinehurst Olympic a few weeks afterwards.

Squeeky and I were still breaking in our new rides. KarenG8r was effortlessly keeping pace. Herbs hardly broke a sweat. Litl’bit put on a fierce pull as we rounded out somewhere south of New Hill.

After returning back to base camp, we did a T2 and ran 2 miles down to the beach and back. Already wound up for the swim was Supreme Commander!

We bemoaned our cement sacks for legs for the brief return, gathered our stuff, and headed down to the beach section.

Forest, Herbs and KarenG8r declined the splash in sub 60 degree water (I think it may have been as much as 61 or 62). I tried swimming in Squeekys hand-me-down wetsuit and we swam a couple hundred meters.

The weather was fantastic, the scenery and location ideal, and the company was top-notch. What an excellent end to the week.

More pics after the jump.

So I have decided that the best use of funds is to subsidize a group bike purchase. Any current members (sorry no signups today!) will receive a discount on a new bike.

After consulting with KarenG8r and Rap Master, we narrowed the choice to the following bike:

For the current members, you can purchase a Trek Madone 5.2 for less than half of retail ($3500).

Please leave a comment and let me know by the end of the day if you will be taking advantage of the offer.

For those of you not doing the White Lake Half or Sprint Triathlon on the first weekend in May, an option for those looking for a great local, well-supported bike ride, try the Raven Rock Ramble. Registration is open and the slots will soon close out.

Check out the Raven Rock Ramble website.

Race starts at the Harris Lake County Park (follow the nuclear plant cooling stack steam!).

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