I would like to compete in my first triathlon this summer. I am very clueless on how it all works. First of all, I own a cheap mountain bike, will this do for the bike section or am I going to get laughed at on my huffy? Second, do you have to wear a wet suit and if not and don’t own one do you just wear a bathing suit? When in transition after the swim do you put other clothes on? How do you find your bike? I just don’t know all the little things and if someone could help me out or point me in the right direction for a beginner I would appreciate it so very much. I don’t want to go pro I just love challenging myself. I’ve done a marathon and now I want to try something new. All the websites I’ve gone to don’t offer answers on the little things and I’ve never seen one so like I said, I’m very clueless.

You need to link up with live people and ask questions. I suggest this website:
http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/

You don’t need to buy a new bike — at least not right away. No, a mountain bike is not ideal, but it will do fine for your first race — especially if it is 15 miles or less of biking. I live in one on the top-3 triathlon meccas in the US, and beginners here sometimes show up with mountain bikes. People will know that you are a beginner — but so what? Everyone has to start somewhere, and I’m sure everyone can relate to the nervousness of the first race. Upgrading your tri equipment can become a major expense, so figure out if you like the sport before you start investing.

You don’t have to wear a wetsuit, but if you are swimming in water colder than 75 degrees or so, you’ll probably want one. If you can’t find a store that rents them locally (the preferred route, because then you can try it on), you can rent one online.

You will keep your equipment for the race in a cordoned-off area called "transition." (The race organizers provide security around this area because of all the $$$.) Depending on the race, you may be assigned to set up in a specific area, or even a specific spot. Before the race starts, you set up your bike and your running shoes there. After the swim, you run to this spot to get your bike. After the bike, you’ll go back to this same spot to rack your bike and start your run. Transitions between sports are another component of the race, and should to be planned and rehearsed in advance.

There’s a lot to learn. If you can, find someone to talk to — and ideally train with. If there are no stores in your area that appear to cater to triathlon, go to a specialty running shop and ask around. They will be able to help you select essential triathlon gear. You can also check out a Masters swimming group, because there are often triathletes training with them:
http://www.usms.org/placswim/

Good luck! It can be quite a journey.

I’m planing to go with a group across the country in a year and a half, I want to start now. I’ve done mountain bikes my whole life, I need to know as many of the ins and outs as I can learn down to clothes and tools needed on top of the bike and all. Please Help

You can buy all the clothes, tools, and equipment you will need. What you can’t buy is the training to be able to ride that far every day. You need to start training now with long distance rides with a fully loaded bike.

And you can only use a mountain bike with bike fixing kit for flats and tools for fixing bike parts and a back pack with three pairs of clothes plus the pair your wearing.

A guy on horseback did it in 3 years. He traveled 20,000 miles.
Another guy rode his bike from Delaware to Oregon in 8 weeks. He covered about 75 miles a day.
So, assuming your trip was 20,000 miles at 75 miles per day with no days off, it would take about 267 days.
That would leave you $1.57 per day for food and supplies. You could afford a Junior Whopper and a small Coke.
That’s not enough calories to fuel such a demanding task, so no, I don’t thin $420 is enough unless you found a way to earn some money along the way, maybe get a sponsor or something.

This summer I am going off to camp for the sixth time in the summer and I need to know what would be good to bring a long. Yes, clothing, shoes, all of those I already know of course. I mean extra items. We will be doing tubing, water skiing, and mountain biking. Those are hints for things I might need. I am already bringing my bike and helmet/padding, so no need to say that since I already covered it. And I know to bring a swimsuit. If you could mention some things that aren’t as obvious. Thanks, I appreciate it

Since it appears you might be doing a lot of stuff in the water, I’d say that if you weren’t planning on bringing water shoes, that it might be something to consider. Also, definitely bring a life jacket for sure. And the last two things that I’d say is that you might want to search out a helmet that could be used for both mountain biking and water sports. That way you’ll have protection for both activities, but not have to bring one for each. Lastly, a hydration backpack. It’s small, lightweight, and would be super helpful on a hot summer mountain bike ride.

This mainly for the ladies, but will welcome all answers.

Im a straight guy and have only just started doing cycling/RPM classes at the gym. I did my research on the class, what to expect, how to ride with comfort, stretches etc, but when it came to clothing, I had a lot of mixed results. My research took a turn towards cycling garments, what, when and where to wear spandex if you should wear any at all to the gym or any other location. In girls it’s considered perfectly normal attire. But on guys its a taboo subject which gets a lot of "con’s" more than "pro’s". Now I’m not talking about the typical Lycra tights/bike shorts you see people use for everyday wear, Im talking about proper padded spandex wear that cyclists use and general compression tights used for recovery purposes. I actually went for the first time to my spin class wearing my lycra padded cycling shorts and a t-shirt ‘just’ long enough to cover my crotch and half my butt. I got this T-shirt a little bigger for that reason alone,

The reason why I bought the shorts was for the padding and comfort alone I would receive and the reading/research I have been doing here, not for any sick self gratification or reason to freak out other gym members. I have heard from experienced cyclist members here that for comfort, reduction in heat, reduction of chaffing and other hygienic reasons, quality padded cycling shorts are recommended but not the be all and end all and there are other alternatives. I looked at the alternatives. There were mountain bike shorts with similar internal linings that did pretty much the same thing as the spandex pair. I seriously considered buying these but found the high price for them was very off putting. Now out of these reasons above I thought ‘well why shouldn’t I be comfortable’ and bought my first good quality pair of lycra shorts.

I headed straight for the back of the room where I was least noticed as it was a new experience for me. I was the only dude in the class wearing padded lycra shorts other than the male instructor. There were a couple of other girls wearing regular capri stile tights, but that was it. All the other guys were wearing regular shorts and during the class they looked a bit uncomfortable after half and hour of up and down hard peddling. No one gave me strange looks of disapproval or any sly comments I could hear which was good, but it made me think, am I making others feel ‘uncomfortable’? Is it wrong to want to feel comfortable even though I may look like a little strange or be considered ‘weird’? Frankly I didnt care what anyone thought of me although I didnt want to ‘parade’ around, hence me bee lining it towards the back of the room. I didnt know anyone there and they didnt know me. I felt good after the session was over. I just did my thing and got changed and went home.

Now to the point of this thread. I guess Im asking for personal opinions/experiences based on what you have read/seen above as well as the answers to the questions that follow:

Do you you mind or care if a guy wore spandex/lycra bike shorts to a cycle/spinning class at the gym?
Is there an etiquette to wearing spandex for both guys and girls?
Should spandex on guys be restricted to cycling only, or only in competition?

If you can be constructive in your comments, Id really appreciate it. I hope I can change my thinking if Im off track somewhere.

wow you really put a lot of thought into this. how bout spandex short underneath regular shorts??