Atlanta: Stone Mountain Ride and Ironman

I'm sorry I missed the ride this Saturday, it sounds like ya'll had a blast. I'll plan on the Nov. 20th ride.

Its on my calendar.  I'll be there.  Hopefully, it won't be cold.  Maybe we should bump the start time up till a little later in the morning to give the sun a chance to warm things up for us.

Edited by Motivated 2004-10-25 3:40 PM

Should we say 10 or 10:30???

When I have a chance then I'll post directions to downtown Stone Mtn. where there is free parking and just a short ride to the park.

I'm out. That is the first day of vacation for us.

Hope the weather holds out for you guys and there is a good turn out.

Alan, we will miss you on this one. Next time!


Directions to the Stone Mtn. Park:
(in order to save $7 a person on entrance fees)

http://www.pathfoundation.org/trails/stonemtn.cfm

Check out this website. See the blue letter 'P' that means parking. Get off Route 78 onto Memorial Dr., then get off Memorial onto Ponce De Leon and take Main street into town. On the corner of Main and Mountain there is a large parking lot across from the old stores. You will see a white gazebo. Let's meet at the parking lot. It's real close to one of the park entrances were we can slip in and not pay.

New to the BT boards (and site). I'd love to join you for the ride in a few weeks. Does the Atlanta group communicate outside of the board to coordinate or should I just keep tabs here?

I just signed up for the Vineman 1/2 IM, my first of that distance, and have a LOT of work to do in the next 9 months.

Welcome to the site! We mainly keep tabs here on the forums. Good luck with your training and hopefully we'll see you on the 20th. 

I would love to join in the Nov. 20th ride but I still have to invest on a bike. Any advise what type of tri-bike I should get? Nothing fancy, just a started bike. One baby step at a time .......

Alan

There's too many factors to consider before suggesting a bike. budget, performance, and usage being some big factors. In the end though you need to go try on a few so you can determine what is best for you. but if you tell us what kind of bike and how much you want to spend then a few of hte bike guru's could most likely point you in a good direction. Hope to see you on the

Roll Call:

Motivated
Tplauche
JG2GA
Browe79

Anyone else?

What if we schedule the ride for 11:00 and be riding by 11:15ish? That way the weather will have some time to warm up a bit.

Do we want to also include watching the Ironman together? If so, would anyone be willing to host? If it is a small group and my husband says okay then I could have everyone over to my apartment.

I just need a not frills tri-bike for training and also for my early stages of tri-events. I am 5'7" 152 pounds. Willing to spend $500 or less (give and take).... I have been reading -- I am suitable for 54cm or 52cm frame size? What other factors should I consider?

Thanks for the help.....

By the by, my inseam is 30".

Alan - Ayeong,
Everyone has their opinion on bikes. here is my opinion for a first bike.
1. My recomendation is to go with a road bike first instead of a tri-specific bike. Tri-bikes are very nice and have great advantages, but generally a roadie is easier to handle and is a more vertatile bike to start with.
2. A no frills bike will have Sora or Tiagra components. I would recomend a minimum of Shimano 105 Componets on the bike. lowest to highest in componets are as follows - Sora, Tiagra, 105, Ultegra, Dura Ace. 105 is generally considered the beginner grade for the serious rider.
3. I also recomend something with an aluminum frame. Mabee a carbon fork if you want a little more comfort. Steel frames are heavier but give more so are more comfortable, Aluminum frames are lighter and more rigid, Carbon fiber frames are professional as well as titanium. An aluminum frame is the most common and universal a carbon fork helps the feel and comfort.
4. Consider the Chainring. There are double and triples. Most road bikes come with a double chainring and is all that is really needed, but a tripple gives you the "granny gear" to climb with. I think that if you go with a double you don't miss the tripple, and you learn quicker to power up the hills. Others love the low gear.
5. Consider that if you are biking seriously then you will put a lot of hours on the bike. It's worth the time and effort to look into a number of bikes and consider all your options.

In my experince last year as I picked up training for triathlons. I was going to grab a trek 1000 to get me on the road. I soon found that it would get me on the road, but I would soon want an upgrade. I shopped around set a minimum standard and got much more of a bike for much less money. I figured a trek 1500 or 1800 or a specialized Allez Ellite or something similar to them would last me a few years. They run about $1,500. By searching classifieds, checking older models and scouring the internet I found a Specialized Allez with Ultegra components in excellent condition with very few miles for about $600.00 I love it and I'm wearing it out and plan on a few good years from it. It's all the bike I need. So have fun shopping and drooling over the super fancy tri-specific bikes also.

Bethany,

I wont be able to make the ride. Thanks for putting another one together. Hopefully I will get to go on one soon. I just bought a trainer to get my endurance up. I’ll be at the Florida State vs. Florida Game the weekend of the 20th. Have fun on the ride and Go Noles.

-Dominick

Thanks for the tips. Very helpful. And I shall drool at all the tri-bikes ...... beyond my reach now and it's ok. Time to window shop and research now.

Have a good one.

Hey guys count me in. Sorry I've MIA work been crazy. I'll try to get dave to join us.

Cancel that Search and Rescue team. Send home those volunteers and those search dogs. Crispin has once again joined us. Welcome home. Yeah!

Where he was? No one knows. Off training with Lance again is our best guess. Gotta give Lance the best training partner to win that Tour this year.

Okay so Aims and Whit, are you going to make me the only girl on this ride? Any other Atlanta women out there???

Bethany,


Was lost and have found my way home. Thanks for the welcome. I'm going to work on you not being the only female out there. I'll ask Laura "Lkoczwara" if she'd be interested in joining us. Oh' by the way, I saw your comments in the July issue of Triathlete Mag. Good one. I've been working on my swimming too. Got to keep the "Sharks" at bay.

Glad to have you back.  What did Bethany say in Triathlete Magazine?  I missed it.

Hey ATL gang,

Sorry I've been M.I.A also....just continuing to nurse this stupid knee. I hope to ride with you all between T-giving and Christmas, if we have any decent weekends.

Tony

One of these days we will be honored with your presence. In the mean time, heal quickly! Injuries are no fun. What's your story with being MIA? Crispin was training with Lance. Can you top that one?

That's right! One day

Ok, re Lance...... I know a guy who knows a guy who knows Lance (and said I could at least meet him and possible ride with him). Ok, not as cool but getting there!!

So how did you train with the Lance man, C?

Tony

I think I should probably answer for C since I was the one who made it up and Crispin probably doesn't even know that we are talking about him. I said that because back on our endurance ride, Crispin (and Karl) just tore it up. At one spot, they thought this rider was part of our group so they almost killed themselves trying to stay with him. Come to find out the rider was not with us. Crispin is a beast on the bike.

C and I rode together at the end of the ride and he was like, "man, my heart rate is so low right now; this is such a great endurance ride." I kept looking at my hrm and it was like in the 85 to 90 percentile. The guy used to be a bike cop. I'm sure the thieves had no chance with him even if he gave them a head start. He's a machine on the bike.

Sorry the Lance thing is not true. Cool if it was.

There is a 5k in Decatur the morning of the 20th. If we are starting later in the morning then I may go run a 5k first. Anyone else interested?