Bikes and Tough Decisions

I will start with the tough decisions part. As my previous post let you know, I ended up with a stress fracture in my tibia after the first cross country race of the season. I intended to run the Ontario Championships (OUAs) anyways (the damage is already done right?) but this weekend that changed. The Championships, being held at the Kingbridge Conference Centre in Nobleton, Ontario are next weekend, October 27^th. Initially my motivation for running was, apart from that fact that I love to race, to get my team to have a shot at being sent to the Canadian Championships (CIS) two weeks later in London, Ontario. Yesterday I was informed that the university will send them regardless of the team placing at OUAs. I had been testing my leg out this week and it was holding up pretty well, but I could tell that it wasn’t healed. This left me with a decision to make. My coach would let me run, but I was risking doing a lot more damage to the stress fracture and putting me out of action for a lengthy period of time. After much deliberation I came to decide that I would not run. This is one of the hardest decisions I have had to make because I really wanted to do the race. However, in the long term it is better to not race and let my leg heal, so that I can come back and kick some serious butt later (read- triathlon season next year). Unfortunately the best decisions are not always the easiest to make. However, I know that my team will do great next weekend and I will cheer them on enthusiastically. =)

Now the fun part!!!! Yesterday I took the train to Burlington and walked to Neworld Cycle (http://neworldcycle.com/main.htm). Having qualified for the World Triathlon Championships next year I knew I wanted to get a better bike than my current road bike (even though I love it). I had been searching on Kijiji for some time but it was not yielding any results so had begun looking into bike stores as most are having their Fall Blowout Sales right now.  My brother, Keith Marchant (who is a fantastic triathlete and happens to live in Burlington), came to the rescue once again and found a great deal on Cervelo P3s at Neworlds. This being my first free weekend of the fall I headed down, certified cheque in hand, ready to buy my bike. I had done plenty of research into bikes and had determined that the P3 was going to be the best value for my money. The guys from Neworld, Jeff and Victor, were great and got me fitted up on a snazzy looking Cervelo P3, with pedals and bike shoes (no more cycling in my running shoes!!). I brought my bike back home via the train and it is currently sitting in my (locked) room. I hooked it up to the trainer today and absolutely love it! The aero position is going to take some getting used to, but I have lots of time for that. =)