My Bike Gear

Without the bike, cycling is really challenging, so I'll start here. I utilize both my road bike (see photo on side bar...Specialized Allez Sport. Not necessarily considered the coolest, best, or most current bike on the planet, but darn-it-all, I like it and I do think it's cool. I use it a great deal all year long, but I do mix it up with my triathlon bike. When I'm training for an Ironman, I tend to use my triathlon bike more often.
This will be my first season with my GURU (see bike drapped over my shoulders above). I've only ridden it outdoors about half a dozen times. I've already ridden it indoors more than this, but I am very much looking forward to taking it out on the road and getting completely comfortable with it.
When I ride I have a standard helmet. I don't own an aero helmet. This isn't because I'm not interested, I simply have not ponied up and purchased one. It's another expense that I may consider down the road, but right now, I'm going to love the one I'm with.



My shoes may be a little on the dated side (1995), but they work for me. My first cycling shoes were of the Carnac brand, and I like the way they feel, so I got a pair of triathlon shoes of the same brand. I still wear my original shoes with my Specialized, and my TRS (see below) when I do triathlon, and when I ride my triathlon bike.
For road...I believe they are the LeMond's with two straps, located on the bottom of this "poster" on the left.



My triathlon shoes are...the TRS (circa 2006). They fit and function well. They aren't as sexy as the Specialized or Pearl Izumi varieties, but they work.

When I ride my road bike, I use cycling gloves, but not when I ride my triathlon bike. Mine look something like this...



I hydrate with GU Brew, and it is contained in water bottles in which I keep in my recently purchased X-Lab Mini Wing and X-Lab frame-attached cage.
     

My favorite cycling apparel brand is Pearl Izumi, but I love my GU cycling kit (see photo in side bar).
I don't have a power meter, and I don't use a heart rate monitor, but I do have cyclo-computers on both of my bikes. However, I have black electrical tape across the screen so I don't see the current speed. If I can see the current speed, I start to over think things. I am more interested in current distance, and then when I'm done, average speed. This will be the first year I've raced with a computer on at all. In the past, I would race with no computer at all.
I used to race with HED 3 wheels, but my former triathlon bike had a 650-sized wheels, where my current triathlon bike has 700-sized wheels. My wheelset is pretty solid, yet pretty light, so I'm good for now.
The thing about gear, whether it be for swimming, cycling, or running, is that someone or some company has something cooler, sleeker, ass-kickin'-er, than what you have...no matter what you have. So, the key is to become comfortable and happy with what you have because you will never be able to keep up with the proverbial Jones'.

This gear keeps me rollin'. Peace.