In Which We Get New Bikes ...

... and Bob and Melon get retired (kinda. they're still around ... without pedals or cyclometers and, in bob's case, without a front wheel since I still haven't put it back on).

When we did our taxes this year, we were hoping for a decent refund as that was going to be our bike fund. It ended up being pretty decent so we found a couple of days in April to go down to TriSports and buy ourselves bikes.

There are a few places around here we could have gone for triathlon-specific bikes, but Brandon schmoozed it up with owner Seton Claggett while we were working the TriSports aid station at IMAZ and Seton said he'd help us out, therefore ... Tucson drive! Plus we like it down there, so whatever.

We left Denver Monday afternoon, got a good chunk of the way through New Mexico, crashed at a rest stop for a few hours and rolled into Tucson at about 8:30am on Tuesday. We grabbed breakfast (at Frank's/Francisco's Restaurant ... SO GOOD) and then off to TriSports. We got in the doors essentially as they opened and we went straight into bike fitting.

I went first on the bike they had chosen for me, a Quintana Roo Dulce:







After I pretty much got dialed in, it was Brandon's turn, on a QRoo Seduza:







Even better for Brandon is they had an extra ISM Adamo saddle leftover from when they used to do saddle tryouts, so he got a snazzy, almost $200 saddle for free (he always gets the good stuff for cheap there; it's how he got his aero helmet and Sidi shoes).

After dropping a whole lot of money (well, charging a whole lot of money ... not looking forward to that credit card bill) on bikes and a pair of swim paddles (for me), it was off to eat deliciously crappy food for lunch and then pretty much crash and die due to exhaustion.

Wednesday, we took the bikes out on a test ride - or at least tried to; Tucson had 25-30mph winds, gusting to 40mph - and got a taste for what they could do.


Hugging Bob. Poor Bob looks so sad.





The potential these bikes contain is scary. We've ridden them a bit since including on the Platte trail, one of the flatter routes around here. I haven't gone back and checked officially, but I'm pretty sure our mph average on it was at least a mile per hour faster than we've ever done. That's just "free" speed, just due to the bike. If I can get the engine powering it better? It's frightening to think of the potential of what my racing season can be.

As for names, Brandon's is named Slaughter (think: the Simpsons (Slaughter in the Water: Tyson vs. Secretariat), also a character on Castle) and mine? Well, mine still needs a name. And new grip tape. Too much pink for me.

I'll end with one picture of Bob from the drive home, looking despondent, for what good is a bike that's not being ridden? Its purpose is no longer.