As we head into the New Year, Swim Bike Run of Kentucky wishes all of you a safe and wonderful holiday with family and friends. We feel blessed to have heard from so many of you these last few months, and we look forward to seeing you in February when we open the center at 320 N.Ashland Avenue in Lexington. Thank you for your support, words of encouragment, and suggestions as move forward into our new venture. Before you know it, triathlon season will kick into high gear, and we can’t wait to help you make it a great year. See you soon!

More Christmas presents continue to roll into Swim Bike Run of Kentucky! We’re very pleased to bring Scott tri bikes to Lexington. Scott, along with Ceepo, Quintana Roo, and Blue will give our triathletes plenty of choices. If you are interested in exploring a new tri bike, please contact us so we can set up an appointment with Coach Eric in January. Fit is crucial, and Coach Eric will be certified by the experts at Fit Institute Slowtwitch in California so he can give you the best fit possible. We look forward to hearing from you!

Just thought I’d give a quick update to the Swim Bike Run KY community.  I got my test results back from UBI and I am a graduate.  Thanks for following my trip out to the clinic and keep checking back for more updates.

If you are like me, and have waited to shop until the last minute, have we got a deal for you! We’re just days away from Christmas, and I’m just starting to think about shopping. I know time is running out! Some of you asked us if we would have gift certificates available, and we worked hard to get them for you. At the same time, we continue to line -up more great tri gear products for our opening in February.  In addition to 2XU tri suits, shorts, tops, wetsuits, and compression gear, we will feature Tifosi sunglasses, Louis Garneau helmets and running apparel, bikes from Ceepo, Blue, Scott, and Quintana Roo, plus ISM bike saddles and DeFeet socks. And that’s just for starters! Our Swim Bike Run of Kentucky gift certificate is easy to do and quick.  You have two choices: print out the gift certificate to wrap and put under the tree, or you can email the gift certificate directly to the person you are giving it to. Just an idea in case you’re running tight on time, and want to reward your favorite triathlete gal or guy!  Merry Christmas from Swim Bike Run of Kentucky!

Well I’m happy to be writing this from on my couch in the lovely city of Lexington in the state of Kentucky.  I am very glad to be home and I look forward to spending some time with my friends and family.  To give you a little insight yesterday was a long and exciting day of travel.  I decided to go to the airport early with one of my friends from bike school.  The night before Ashland was hit with a dose of freezing rain so I awoke to ice covering the sidewalks and roadways.  The shuttle came to pick me up about 7am PT and we started the 30 min drive to the Medford airport.  After a slip and slide ride to the airport and a hand full of white knuckles we pulled up to the front gate.  I was elated to be safely at the airport but disappointed to find that all runways were closed and they were not sure if the airport would open at all for the day due to ice on the runway.  I decided to go ahead and check my bags and play the waiting game as I had nothing else to do but hope for the best.  As it turns out the best (or at least good enough) was exactly what I got.  The first flight out of Medford left at noon and my flight was shuttled off quickly after.  My flight was only about 30 min late so I landed in Portland with about 5 inins to make my next flight.  I ran through the airport and made it to the next plane with minutes to spare.  The rest of the travel was pretty uneventful and I was home in my bed last night by 1 am.  As I have stated before this experience was something I wouldn’t change for anything and look forward to applying what I’ve learned.  Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season.  Make sure to check back for more updates.

P.S. Don’t forget tomorrow’s my birthday if you see me be nice! 

Well, tomorrow I hop on a plane and make my way back to the bluegrass.  Although I’ve loved my time here,  I’m ready to get back to Lexington, see my family, and start applying everything I’ve learned. 

Today was a shortened day including a small lecture, a written test, and a graduation ceremony (that’s right I graduated).  The day (just like the two weeks) went by really quick.  Right now I’m sitting in my room packing a few things up so I’m ready to leave in the morning.  I’ll go out to have some dinner with one of my friends tonight; then back for one more nights sleep in the great city of Ashland, OR. 

Here’s hoping that everything goes smoothly tomorrow with all my travel.  If you’ve been reading this I appreciate your time, and I hope to see many of you when I get back.  Until next time.

As the clock ticks down towards our opening in February, we are working hard to bring you the finest in triathlon gear. We’re pleased to bring Ceepo triathlon bikes to Kentucky. Coach Eric, our Director of Operations, was fortunate to meet and talk with the founder of Ceepo, Joe Tanaka, at Worlds in Clearwater, Florida last month. We’re impressed with Ceepo’s dedication to producing a superior and super fast bike that is designed specifically for the demands of triathlon. Ceepo is not a road bike company that markets one of their bike models to triathletes. Ceepo bikes and frames are developed by triathletes for triathletes. We think you’ll enjoy testing a Ceepo tri bike on the road!

I’m writing this during a study break this evening so once again I apologize if this is brief, but I plan on spending the rest of the evening studying for my test tommorrow.  The test (as I’m told) is a 100 question multiple choice test that covers all the information covered over the past two weeks.  We have 1 and a half hours to complete the test, and although I feel like there is plenty of time I still don’t want to leave it to chance. 

Today went really quickly as we spent the entire day on our feet working on overhauling bikes.  I find that more hands on and less class time make the day go much faster.  After a successful overhaul it was off to pick up a few study supplies followed by an early dinner.  Now I’m back in the room “crackin the books”, and preparing for my last day of class in the morning.  Although the class has been amazing, and I’ve learned a lot I’m as excited about coming back home as I am with finishing the class.  However, the UBI group has many different classes, and if I do have the chance I will return and continue my bicycle education. 

I’ll let everyone how I think the test goes tomorrow, until then have a great night!!

Sorry this is short but there’s not much to report today.  I have my overhaul tomorrow and after my long cold walks today I am completely wiped.  I hope to have more to report on tomorrow.  Have a good evening and GO CATS!

Good evening everyone.  I hope that the wind in Lexington isn’t blowing everyone away.  Funny enough, Beth and I spend a great deal of our evening discussions comparing weather between Ashland and Lexington.  It seems right now we have the lowest temperatures, but you have the gale force winds.  Suffice to say everyone is enjoying a different part of what mother nature has to offer. 

Today was another cold start to the day, and I arrived at UBI with frozen eyelashes, and getting laughed at by a few of my friends who had arrived at the same time.  Once I was inside the building I was happy to hear that the cold weather wasn’t in my head because the water to the building was frozen (no bathroom or water for the AM sessions.)  Despite the lack of water and bathroom facilities we forged on and completed the morning session.  After lunch we returned to running water and operating bathroom facilities.  The rest of the day went quickly, and before I knew it I was on my way home. 

I believe I mentioned it before,  but I’m making my best efforts to get back on east coast time this week.  I’ve been trying to cut a little off the night by going to sleep earlier and getting up earlier.  Tonight my goal is to be in bed by 8:30pm and be up by 4:45am.  The times are a lot easier than they seem, but my whole schedule is out of whack so sometimes it’s hard to make heads or tails of times. 

I’ll leave you with the photo to the left which happens to be a picture of me on my walk to school this morning.  As you can see I take every precaution, safety first. 

I have about a 20- minute walk in the morning from the motel I stay at to the UBI classroom.  When I got up this morning I checked the weather on my computer to find the current temperature to be 18 degrees.  I mulled around for a while getting myself ready to face the day with an estimated departure time of 7:20 am.  I decided to look at the weather one more time before I actually got dressed, and by this time the wind had kicked up, and the temperature with the wind chill was only 6 degrees.  Although it was a bit cold on the walk to class it wasn’t unbearable, and all I had to show for myself by the time I got there were some frozen eyelashes.  Needless to say I was wide awake by the time I got to class and ready to get going.

Today we spent most of the day going over different styles of braking systems from different companies, and the proper ways to maintain and install them.  I suppose I didn’t realize how many different styles of brakes there were, but after today and tomorrow I should be on my way to being well versed.  After class I spent some time exploring downtown Ashland, OR.  The town is small with lots of shops in the downtown area that tend to focus on showcasing local art and crafts.  Everything here seems very slow and laid back which suits me just fine.  Apparently the town plays host to a Shakespeare festival each year that generates a large number of tourists. 

One of the most amazing things about this area is the cities awareness of conservation, recycling, renewable energy and overall organic lifestyles.  The building I am taking my class in recycles almost everything we use during the class, and the building is 60% run on solar energy.  It amazes me that back home we make an effort to try and recycle what we can, and out here they throw away almost nothing.  I know that everyone has to start somewhere, but I guess I had no idea to what lengths other parts of the country had already gone.  Have a good night and stay warm. 

It’s been a really quick weekend, and already it’s time to go back to class tomorrow morning.  Saturday was an amazing day for me as a college sports fan.  I was able to watch the UK vs. UNC basketball game here in Oregon, and although the team tried to give me a heart attack I was ecstatic about the win over another quality team.  After the UK game it was on to the the U of AL and Florida SEC Championship game.  (For those of you that don’t know me I was born and raised in Alabama.)  I spent the rest of the day catching up with friends and family on the telephone, and before I knew it the day was over.

Sunday flew by even more quickly than Saturday.  I woke up early, and met a friend to do laundry for the week.  After an invigorating bout of laundry I came back to my room, and spent the rest of the day studying the materials for the class.  Apparently a good read will make the hours fly past because the next time I looked out the window the sun was gone and my stomach was growling.  I had a delicious dinner, and now I’m off to bed with hopes of coercing my body back on to east coast time over the course of this week. 

Hope everyone has a good week, and look for more updates to come.

I wanted you to see what our CompuTrainer studio will look similar to. This is the CompuTrainer studio at Well-Fit in Chicago. We liked the professional, clean look of it. There are 16 CompuTrainers set up facing two large viewing screens. You bring your bike in, and hook it up to the trainer. For convenience, you can also store your bike at the center. You can ride bike courses around the world, race each other, or yourself. It’s an awesome way to train for beginners and veterans. Our members will have exclusive use of the CompuTrainers for group rides throughout the week.

Week one is over and I must say, I’m ready for a break.  I have enjoyed the first week of class, but with all the information they have given us I am ready to take a break.  We finished the week focusing on drive trains. I even got to play with a few mountain bikes today.  All in all I wasn’t ready to leave, but I was worn out.  I have the weekend to myself so I’m going to try to find a place to watch the UK vs UNC basketball game, and maybe do some laundry. 

I know I’m learning a lot here in Oregon, but I really miss my family, and will be more than ready to head home next week.  I’ll have more to come as the class progresses, but for now everyone have a safe weekend.  GO CATS!

When we visited Chicago last weekend, we really liked the layout at Well-Fit. It included a pool similar in size to the Endless Pool that we will install at our Lexington training center. You can see stairs at one end, and the Swim Unit at the other end that features 52 incremental steps in speed.  You may also notice the mirrors at the bottom that give you another view of your swimming stroke. This pool is 18X6 1/2, and about 4 1/2 feet deep…plenty large enough for a single swimmer. Seeing it in person really got us excited about featuring it in Lexington!

I thought for today I would give you a little bit of my point of view for a day at the UBI Institute. To the left is the view I see from my desk each morning before the lectures begin. The day starts at 8am and continues til about noon where we have a lunch break. After lunch we return for another 4 hours of fun and we get out of class around 5pm. All and all I have to say that the days fly by. Today we had the opportunity to take several hubs apart and look into their inner workings. Once again I cannot say enough about how good this school has been. If anyone cares to check it out you can go to http://www.bikeschool.com and look at the right side of the homepage. There’s a link to “Photo’s of Current Class”. See if you can find me in the page of photos. It’s like where’s Waldo. Hope you are all doing well.

We welcome Coach Beth Atnip to the Swim Bike Run of Kentucky team. Her experience coaching athletes of all ages and abilities, and her passion for the triathlon sport make her a great fit. Beth is also one of the top women triathletes in her age group in the state of Kentucky so she knows what it takes to train and compete.  As many of you already know, she also does a super job directing the Susan Bradley-Cox Tri For Sight race in Lexington every Fall. We look forward to having Coach Beth lead some of our clinics, training, and lactate threshold testing. For more on Beth check her bio under “About Us.” 
We also welcome a pioneer in building and developing triathlon bikes.  Swim Bike Run of Kentucky is now a dealer for Quintana Roo…the first in Kentucky!  These folks invented the triathlon bike. In 1987, the first-ever triathlon bike debuted at Ironman New Zealand, and was quickly criticized for how strange it looked. Those doubts turned to respect when Ray Browning came off his “odd” tri-bike with a 30-minute lead. Now to 2009, and Quintana Roo features 9 models of triathlon-specific bikes plus 2 new models that are closer to a road bike.  We’re excited about introducing you to Quintana Roo…the first of several bike brands we will feature at our center. Stay tuned, much more is coming!  And keep those surveys coming!

Hello again.  Hope this finds everyone doing well. 

First I would like to say that Ashland, OR is a very beautiful city and I recommend that anyone come and visit.  On that same note I will suggest that you make your plans in the summer months.  The last two days the city has been stuck in ice fog, for those of you that don’t know what that is I can explain.  The concept is simple the city is in a cloud and everywhere the moisture touches it freezes.  This type of weather makes everything slick and manages to make you cold very quick.  It’s been a rude wake up for the winter months.

Ok, sorry for the rambling I’ll get to the update.

Today was a review for me on the workings of the drive train.  Most of the information was review but each day I’ve picked up something new.  The staff here is very knowledgeable and diverse.  Everyone comes from a different background so each has their own story and experience to bring to the table.  To be completely honest I don’t think that I would enjoy the class nearly as much if the staff wasn’t so engaging.  Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos today so I’ll leave you with a picture I took yesterday of my first wheel build.

Greetings from Ashland, OR,

This is my first blog for Swim Bike Run of KY,  and although I have a lot going on right now, I’m going to keep this short and sweet. 
If you need me in the next couple of weeks I’ll be in Oregon at the UBI professional bike mechanics school.  So far I am very impressed with the staff and curriculum of the course.  After two full days I have learned so much valuable information that I hope can help everyone back in Lexington.  Today I built my first set of bike wheels.  Spending an entire day building a set of wheels; then being asked to tear them down when you’re finished really makes you appreciate how much work goes into the process.  Despite the short life of my wheels, I did snap a few photos of the process and of the area.  I hope everyone is doing well, I look forward to coming home once the classes are finished. 

Wow, and more wow! Our team from Swim Bike Run of Kentucky has just returned from visiting some of the top triathlete and running shops in Chicago.
We soaked up a weekend full of ideas from some of the best in the Midwest. Their enthusiasm for serving multi-sport athletes only added to our excitement about bringing you the best training and outfitting center. We visited several indoor cycling studios with CompuTrainer which we will feature in Lexington. This virtual cycling is a big hit across the U-S, and we saw firsthand how different centers set it up, and use it. Many of you have told us on our survey ( please take it if you haven’t had a chance) your interest in also using the Endless Pool for stroke analysis, and we toured some training centers featuring the one we’re planning to install.  It’s 18X6 feet…plenty large enough for a single swimmer to receive instruction and practice their stroke. We believe in offering you top quality tri apparel, and to that end we will feature tri suits, tops, shorts, and wet suits from 2XU. While in Chicago the sales rep from 2XU met with us, and showed off the apparel we’ll be bringing to Lexington for 2010. I’ve raced in a 2XU tri suit, and we’re excited to offer it at Swim Bike Run of Kentucky. Compression gear is another piece of tri apparel that is taking off around the U-S, and we had a chance to see the latest on that from several different companies.  The triathlon/multi-sport community is very friendly, and we made a new friend who had tons of suggestions and ideas for us to bring back to Lexington. Mark Rouse is one of the owners of Runners High ‘N Tri in Chicago, and he was very generous with advice about operating a first-class center. If you are ever in Chicago, check out Mark’s running store.
It’s a busy time as we work towards opening day early next year. As I write our Director of Operations, Coach Eric Atnip, is in Oregon for two weeks at the United Bicycle Institute. He’s honing his skills on running our bike shop. Look for Eric’s blog on his classes and trip out West.
Talk to you soon!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. While many shoppers are looking for bargains on this so-called, Black Friday, our Swim Bike Run of Kentucky team is headed to Chicago. It’s a sightseeing trip of a triathlete kind. We’re visiting some of the top multi-sport shops in the country to see how they do it right, and we plan on bringing a lot of that knowledge back with us to Lexington. We’re very interested in seeing their indoor cycling studios featuring the CompuTrainer. Our plan includes 8 CompuTrainers at our Lexington training center so groups of riders can experience indoor training at a whole new level. We also want to see some of the Endless Pool setups. We’ve had a very positive response to our survey about using the Endless Pool for stroke analysis, and we’re ready to feature it in our training center. (If you haven’t taken the survey, please do). Coach Eric Atnip, our Director of Operations, and his wife Beth, a USAT Certified Race Director and Coach, along with my partner, Noelle, and I are looking forward to learning from some of the best. I’ll let you know how this road trip turns out!

One of the most exciting aspects of getting this training and outfitting center off the starting line has been hearing from all of you. We really want to give you all the tools you need to enjoy this sport. I hope you will check our survey, and tell us what you want and need. This really is “your” home for triathlon training and gear. But our center also goes way beyond the products. We’re putting together a group of local experts who have trained, raced,and lived the sport. They will be there to share with you what they’ve learned. We’re also very excited about a great way to train indoors called CompuTrainer. We will have a state of the art,  indoor cycling studio set-up which allows up to eight riders to train together. You bring your bike, we hook it up to the computer system, and off you go in front of a big screen. On the screen you see the course, and the computer adjusts the difficulty of your pedaling. Don’t worry Coach Eric will be there to make sure you have a great training experience. We will have early sign-ups for the CompuTrainer, and invite you to take a ride during a weekend, open-house. You don’t have to be a triathlete to use this system. Cyclists of all abilities will enjoy and benefit from CompuTrainer. We’ll talk more about the CompuTrainer in the weeks to come, and there’s so much to share about our clinics and other services. Right now, we’re busy getting the center ready, and fully stocked with what you need. We appreciate your feedback. Don’t forget to click on the survey, and we look forward to you dropping by for a visit. We’ll keep you updated on our opening, and please spread the word about Swim Bike Run of Kentucky. Talk to you soon!

Eric’s blog is coming soon.