Road to Ironman

Welcome to the sport!  

Not currently racing (ANYTHING) but trying to get back to a fitness based lifestyle after several years off.  I have done 3 140.6 races, so feel free to ask away.  

You can see my race log here on BT and read my race reports.  

IM Coeur D'Alene 2009
Vineman (Now IM Santa Rosa) 2011
Beach2Battleship (Now IM North Carolina) 2014

Each has been different and unique so no "favorite."  

Whether a tri-bike makes sense or not depends a lot on you as well as the course.  A tri-bike makes sense if you can ride in an aero position a lot.  A flat course, yes, particularly if there is high probability of wind.  Hilly being mostly rollers?  Probably.  Hilly being long climbs (where you're on the bull-bars) and long descents (where aero may be twitchy)?  Probably not.  

Of course there's also the cost of "upgrading" to a tri-bike.  If a $2000 tri-bike cuts 6 minutes off your bike split, will that be important to you?  I got my tri-bike used for $500 and spent another $100 for "race wheels."  (Actually, the wheels that came with it are better than what I bought, but I wanted lower gearing going into IMCdA and it was as cheap to buy those wheels and a cassette than get a freewheel with the gearing I thought I wanted.)  If you like your road bike, try some clip-on aerobars (I prefer the Century style which form a loop) and an aero helmet and put the savings towards coaching.  

My HIM bike split in 2006 was 20mph on an old road bike with clip-on aero bars.  Old being an '80's Raleigh with downtube shifters and a 6-speed cluster. My IM bike splits have been 17-18 mph on a slightly newer ('94?) Klein Aeolus.