Bike

I've been watching craigslist and ebay for a while now looking for a bike. I needed a bike for the triathlon. I know participating in the triathlon is going to be a bit expensive. Equipment I need: Bike, Wet Suit, Appropriate Clothes and Shoes. Plus Registration costs and other expenses like hotel, food, etc. I know participating can be costly so I'm thinking of it as a birthday present since it's the day after I turn 29 and trying to get my family to pitch instead of buying me a gift. The bike, was a late mother's day gift.

I'm super excited about the bike though, it's a Trek 3700 white, pink and grey. I don't know a lot about bikes but from what I researched it's a good bike MSRP around $400 I bought it off craigslist for $100. It's in really good shape a few small scratches on the handle bars but nothing bad at all, just not brand new! But it is probably less than 1 year old... it's the 2009 model! It looks just like this:

and if you're really interested here are the specs:

I feel like I got a fantastic deal, it's not a road bike, it's an entry level mountain bike. Triathletes typically use road bikes but from what I've read is for the novice it doesn't really matter as long as if you can ride the bike the distance required and considering the triathlon I plan on doing is in Tahoe, I think this is going to work great.

The girls and I are super excited to go on bike rides together. I bought all of us girls new helmets today, cost almost as much a bike but they were necessary. I'm going to start looking for a used trailer to pull Amelia. She isn't really ready to ride herself yet and I think a trailer might be more practical than a seat. Mariyn and I rode together today, around my sister's block. She is in there cleaning her room now so we can go ride again. I love that my kids are active and learning a healthy lifestyle. :)

Thank you, heavenly father for knowing exactly what I needed and wanted and providing me with this bike. We are truly blessed!

ETA: Mariyn was so excited to go on a bike ride. I told her if she cleaned her room, we could go. It was a mess, her little cousins have been over all week and of course the room was very out of control. She got her room clean in enough time to go for a ride around the neighborhood. While she has had a bike for a while, she hasn't really been on a true bike ride ( I didn't have a bike to go with her and couldn't have kept an eye on her w/o riding along). Kinda sad, I know. Tonight we road around our neighborhood, approximately 2 miles. She crashed 4 times but handled it well. Good thing I bought those helmets! When we got home she asked if we could go again tomorrow and said that she had SO much fun! My heart is so full!!