"You have a crack in your frame"...

To a triathlete, that is like hearing the bad news from the doctor. And this is the report I received yesterday as I received the call from Dizzy Cycles telling me that my bike was ready after I had brought it in for a tune-up.
Frightening...
Scary...
And all of a sudden, Ironman seems to feel like it's going to cost a lot of money again!

This bike, a GT 3.0 Road Bike that I picked up at John Henry Cycles in North Vancouver in 2002, has seen me through the best of my bike times and the worst... Actually, more the best of times. When I first purchased this bike, I had a wonderful purple bike that I had bought used on the advice of a friend. "Purple" is a little generous... It was not that masculine a colour, let's just say.
It was also heavy and had old-style down-tube shifters that made life difficult, AND it was a constant reminder of my first duathlon at the Bare Bones Duathlon in 2002 which really let me know that I had no idea what I was doing on a bike.
Anyway, when I purchased my yellow beauty it was the beginning of my love affair with a bike. There is something to be said about getting a bike that you REALLY want to ride, and this is one that I really enjoy riding. It's not flashy, and it's really not much of a name brand. Just a simple, aluminum frame and a whole lot of miles underneath. A trip to California last summer for the Half Vineman in Sonoma made for my first non-Canadian triathlon ever, and I am set to take it to California with me in May when I take a one-week vacation to Santa Barbara.

So, yesterday, upon hearing the 'news', I pondered life without.... They tell me there is hope, that it probably will be fine, but I also know that it may be time soon to go for an upgrade and seek out a replacement.

I am a sentimentalist at heart. It's not about the bike (with apologies to Lance), but really that bike represents a lot of good moments in my life, and I can't imagine letting it go so quickly. I still have the running shoes I wore for the 2001 Vancouver marathon where I first realized I had a shot at qualifying for Boston. They are an old Asics Gel Kayano for heavy overpronators... And I ran a 3:17 in them... They remind me of a time when a) I was "heavy' and b) I was an overpronator. They also remind me of the moment I felt like I really enjoyed running for the first time, when I felt like I was "made to run". It's not my fastest time, nor are they the lightest shoes, but they are symbolic of a turning point in my life.

So, we'll see what happens with the ol' GT. From the 'word' of the doctors at Dizzy, we'll get it through to the Ironman, but it may be time to retire it after that. So, now, this summer IS about the bike!

Shoot, it's just a piece of welded aluminum, right?

Keep to the right of the road!