The plastic Big Wheel was a toddlers first pick. Perfect for off-roading, sidewalk storming, or hauling others on the back without needing to install aftermarket foot pegs.
When feeling ready, I decided to move up to the steel framed 3-wheeler. The basket on the front was a big selling point, but what sold me was the ability to hook up a trailer to the back and haul around my big sister. Plus, it's a great way to get in some extra low cadence muscle tension work.
My big brother was pretty cool with his big boy bike, so I ditched the wagon hauler for a more maneuverable plastic version 3-wheeler that allowed me to keep up with him.
Fast forward a number of years to 2008. Oxnard Sprint Triathlon. I think this was my 2nd triathlon. After my former college athletic trainer and friend Diana Palmer gifted me some aerobars, I strapped them on my 62cm Trek Madone 5.2 road bike. I didn't yet know what race wheels were or aero helmets, nor that the bike was a bit too large for me. It did the job well though.
After learning there were such things as race specific wheels, I borrowed a set of Cane Creek tubulars from a food Santa Barbara friend and co-coach Rowena Spence. They were amazing! Rowena played a big part in introducing me to the sport, as she was already a veteran. After winning the Oxnard Sprint and meeting Richard Smith of Fluid Recovery at In-N-Out Burger post-race, he gave me a few free samples and offered me discounted product, my first sponsorship of any type. I gladly displayed the Fluid sticker on the madone.
For 2009 I upgraded to a time trial/triathlon specific bike. Thanks to Erik Burkholz of Multisport Ministries, we purchased this Kuota K-Factor SL from a friend Cameron, who owned TriBuys.com at the time. The bike was fun, fast, but definitely took a bit of getting used to with true aerobars, as well as being quite a bit smaller ride than I was used to. I remember almost falling over on my first ride down the street, thinking "there's no way I can balance this thing in the aerobars."
For 2010 I picked up an aero helmet and upgraded once again to this Blue Triad SL. I also rolled a Zipp disc and front Zipp 404. This bike was awesome, fast, and pretty. My only complaint was the integrated seat post, which made it very hard to travel with as it couldn't be broken down.
Needing to free up some cash and while on a mad bike sponsor hunt, I sold the Blue, and secured this awesome Specialized Transition Pro frameset, and built it up with carbon everything and added a Quarq power meter. I will be racing with Zipp 808's and a rear Zipp disc for 2011.
The pain cave. Below is the room that I spent many hours in during 2009. My bedroom in my Santa Barbara apartment also served as my training room. It was here where I first really learned what triathlon was, as I found a video of the 2008 Olympic triathlon online, and streamed the race almost every day for a few months while riding inside during lunch break and at night after work.
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