Let’s say you are one of those tri newbies who started getting into the sport of triathlon last spring.

You did your open water swimming and hit the roads biking and running in the warm summer sun. You succeeded in completing your first triathlon, and now it’s on to bigger and better things in your triathlon goals.

But now the cooler fall temperatures have arrived, daytime hours are shortening, and winter is just around the corner. Perhaps your mindset on cycling is to hang your bike up in the garage for the winter, and start doing spin classes at the YMCA.

With the proper cold weather cycling gear, there’s no reason why you can’t continue outdoor bike training during the cold weather months.

I am the first to admit that it took me a long while before being convinced of the benefits of stretching.

Many amateur athletes don’t place a lot of value on stretching. In some respects, it’s understandable. Time is a precious commodity, and stretching is often the first thing to go.

When you are doing speed drills in the pool, or cranking out mileage on your bike, or running hills, it feels like you are doing something worthwhile in your training. All that effort and sweat feels like work. Comparatively, stretching seems quite melodramatic. Heck, you hardly break a sweat, and it seems like you could be sipping your Caramel Macchiato while you do it! It doesn’t seem very Ironman-ish.

But stretching is not just for wimps!

Notice I said “amateur” athletes don’t value stretching.

Professional athletes know how critical stretching is, and they make it a vital part of their training regimen year round.

There is no sport where stretching is more important than the sport of triathlon.

Every triathlete dreads the ‘c’ word: cramps!

In addition to being excruciatingly painful, a muscle cramp could feasibly prevent you from finishing a race you have trained a long time to compete in. I’ve experienced cramps in my feet and toes while swimming, my groin while biking, and my calves and hamstrings while running.

Though cramps can come during the swim or bike portion, they are more common during the run since a person is more susceptible to fatigue or dehydration nearing the latter states of a triathlon.

If you're a newbie, then you are probably wondering if you should have a tri bike or not.

My story goes as follows...

I was a runner who got into cycling, and eventually took up the sport of triathlon. By the time I got to doing triathlons, I already had a road bike.

The big question was: Should I get a triathlon-specific bike to train and compete in triathlons?

Here are some things you might want to consider.

Per usual, I was up at 4:30 a.m. this morning. On my long cycling days, I will normally try to hit the streets at daybreak so I can roll through some good mileage before traffic picks up on the streets. (Here are some tips for cycling in traffic.)

I’m a creature of habit and I wake up every morning at 4:30 without an alarm clock. My routine is to brew a pot of coffee, check my emails, get all geared up, and out the door at 5:30 a.m.

I do some things the night before to make it easier on me in the morning -- like fill up my water bottle and Cytomax bottle so they are ready to go in the fridge.

Today’s ride is a little different; it’s a “Rick ride.”

Rick is a good friend of mine who lives nearby, and the one who got me into biking. He once was a competitive cyclist, and even though he doesn’t race much anymore I wouldn’t bet against him if he showed up tomorrow at a local Criterium race and decided to enter.

A “Rick ride” means an intensity ride -- a hard and hilly ride. I’ve done Century rides that were easier than rolling 40 miles with Rick. That’s why you need a Rick -- someone who will help you by pushing you.

I feel very fortunate that I’m able to do some of my bike training with someone who is a much stronger cyclist than I am. I feel a similar way about my Masters Swim class. For most people in that class, swimming is their main deal, and it helps push me to be the best swimmer I can be as a triathlete.

I made 3 colossal mistakes biking with Rick today.

Dara Torres is headed to Beijing on the Olympic swim team after winning the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle in the Olympic trials. This will be her 5th time to the Olympics, spanning her teens, 20s, 30s, and now 40s!

Dara is 41 years old, and stood on the medal stand at the trials with her daughter, Tessa, on her hip. She has never tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, and points to her unique training plan as the secret of her success.

Times have changed. It used to be that age 40 meant one foot in the nursing home, and the conventional wisdom was slow down and by careful of over-exerting yourself. That was then, this is now.

These days “old timers,” like Dara Torres, are kicking butt and taking names.

*Warning: I am not a medical doctor. Neither am I astronaut, nuclear physicist, or a Zoo monkey handler. So, anything I say about treating injuries, flying rockets, experimenting with nuclear energy, or adopting a chimpanzee for a pet ...take this into consideration.

Triathletes are especially susceptible to certain injuries because triathlon training and competition pushes the human body to its limits.

The best way to deal with injuries is not to get them, which means incorporating an injury prevention mentality into your training.

Here are some suggestions:

#1  Make injury prevention a focus for off-season training.

#2  When it comes to swimming, focus on developing proper technique. Bad swimming technique leads to unnecessary injuries. I know from personal experience.

#3  Be sure your bike is set up correctly for your body. If your saddle is too low, it will mess with your knees; too high, your hamstring.

#4  Have good running shoes. Many triathletes have shoes fitted just for their feet, which is a good idea. Foot Solutions is one avenue; check and see if there’s a store near you.

#5  Maintain a stretching routine during the season. Here are three stretching videos: Stretching: Part 1, Stretching: Part 2, and Stretching: Part 3. To stay faithful to a stretching routine, some triathletes join a yoga class.

#6  Don’t fudge on proper nutrition, recovery, and rest.

Do all you can on the prevention side!

I mentioned earlier that there are 3 categories of bike gear: 

Must Have

A Good Idea

Would Be Nice

We covered the Must Have list; now it’s on to the other 2 categories.

Cycling shoes and clipless pedals allow your feet to be secured into the pedals, so your pedaling motion can utilize both the downward push of your quads and the upward pull of your hamstring.

Like all gear, there are a variety of options to choose from.

The cycling shoes themselves have different components that allow you to “click into” the pedals such as Look pedals and SPD pedals, but the concept is the same.

Here’s some advice on getting started with cycling shoes...

There’s no way around the fact that it starts adding up on the financial end as you knock things off your bike gear shopping list.

I’ve created a cycling checklist with 3 categories:

Must Have

A Good Idea

Would Be Nice

Let’s start with the cycling Must Have list:

There are different triathlon distances. The most common are:

Sprint (swim 0.5, bike 12.4, run 3.1)

Olympic (swim .93, bike 24.8, run 6.2)

Half Ironman (swim 1.2, bike 56, run 13.1)

Ironman (swim 2.4, bike 112, run 26.2)

Notice that the longest leg in every triathlon is cycling, which means you're going to be spending a lot of time training on a bike.

So, the next few posts are going to explore the cycling universe.

Recently a friend of mine and I decided to explore a new bike route that went through a rural town, Gladeville, TN. It seemed like we were out in the middle of nowheresville when suddenly we biked past a gated yard that was filled with grazing Zebras!

Hmmm... Zebras in Africa - check; Zebras in a zoo - check; Zebras in Gladeville, TN - huh?!?!

We hopped off our bikes and took the above pic. I'm guessing it was some sort of refuge for injured Zebras but not the sort of thing you expect in a town where the Nashville Super Speedway is the major attraction. I don't see any connection between Zebras and NASCAR.

By the way, if you want to find or share new bike routes, you might be interested in Map My Ride.

This past weekend I was out on a 100-mile bike ride, and it started to pour rain.

Part of the route was on a local greenway, and rounding a curve onto a wooded pedestrian bridge my bike slid out from under me and I went down hard on my right shoulder. For a while I just laid there in the downpour, wrenching in pain. I was fine, but what came to mind in that moment was this article that had not yet been written, discussing why doing triathlons are “FUN!”

Admittedly, there will be times when you will question the premise that training and competing in triathlons is “fun.”

Here are some times when I questioned it:

1. Falling over on my bike, getting used to clipless pedals.

2. Swallowing mouthfuls of nasty lake water.

3. Accidentally getting IcyHot in places you really don’t want it.

4. Getting kicked in the head by other swimmers in a tri event.

5. Your first flat tire.

6. Calf cramps with 4 miles left to run.

Just for laughs, listen to Bud Light's Real Men of Genius "Mr. Professional Sports Leg Cramp Rubber Outer":