Filling in the blanks…

Sometimes you don’t realize how much you would really like something until you aren’t sure if you can have it.  Take Ironman for example.  My good friend Tara realized that she really wanted to race it next year when all the community fund spots filled up at the end of October.  All of a sudden 147 new spots appeared online a few weeks ago…no idea how or from where…but all of a sudden the opportunity opened back up and now Tara will be racing next year along with Kelly and I.

When I first bought my bike back in April 2008, a Kona Lisa road bike, I wasn’t sure how much I would even use the thing.  I hadn’t ridden a bike in ages, so I had no idea if my bike and I would be occasional friends or if I would really fall in love with it and want to ride all the time.  Ha, as soon as I brought my new bike home I took it out of the car and promptly went on an 8 mile run…  It didn’t take long for me to fall in love with my bike though and somewhere between April and August I started to think sprint triathlon…half Ironman in 2009…Ironman in 2010.  And colour me surprised that the bike is my strongest of the three events.

So to be perfectly honest with you, I had no intention of looking at a new bike for Ironman next year.  For how hilly the course is I wasn’t sure if I would see a benefit out of a tri bike.  Maybe after Ironman I’d think about a fancy new tri bike.

And then on Monday I stopped by D’s blog.  D is selling her bike…an absolutely beautiful 2008 Cervelo P2C.  51 cm.  Hmm, I fit a 51 cm bike…  We exchange e-mails, but since I’m in Calgary and D is in New West I can’t exactly test ride her bike.  Maybe I can find the same bike to test ride out over here?  On Tuesday I e-mail Kelly to let her know that I brought my gear to run in case she would be interested in meeting up.  Kelly and I never run on Tuesdays, but we both have our gear and are keen to hit the pathway.  Swiftly the conversation turns to bikes and I ask Kelly what she rides.  A 51 cm Cervelo P2C.  Really?  And oddly enough, Kelly actually has it downtown with her that day, on the roof of her car.  She wouldn’t normally have it with her, but today just happens to be my lucky day.  I see her bike and I fall in love…  At a bike shop I am able to confirm that this would indeed be the right size for me.

As I thought through the idea of a new bike, I told my parents that I figured I’d get a new bike after Ironman.  My mom asked me, “Why wait?”  After all, there is no question as to whether I’m going to use a bike now.  Pretty safe to say that I love biking!  It all just felt like kismet, from Kelly having the exact same bike with her for me to try out that day, and for D having the “perfect for me” bike.  Someone threw their name into the hat for the bike before me…so I waited in anticipation…  I figured if it was meant to be it would happen, and then I got the good news this evening that I lucked out!!  Thanks D, I promise to take good care of your girl!!  Training for and racing Ironman Canada is going to be fun!!!