My Name Is What?

Over the last week, I have been amazed with the creativity of so many of you to come up with fantastic names for my new ride!  You all could teach a class on naming bikes!  I have finally come to a conclusion on the name as well as the top 4 names that I really liked, but before I tell you, I have to tell you about what the winners are winning.

At the end of last year, I contacted two companies that create identification bracelets for cyclists or runners or any athlete for that matter.  The first company I contacted was Sportstagid.com.  

I asked them if they would be willing to give me an ID to giveaway in some sort of blog contest.  They said that they have contests on their facebook page all the time to give them away, so if you'd like to win one, go HERE and "like" their page.  It looks like they are giving them away pretty frequently.  They also sent me an ID to tryout.  

It came in the mail just a few days later, and I was so excited!  It really is a neat design that has a clasp on the back to close easily and securely.  There are trim marks on the silicone band so that you can dial in the fit around your wrist by simply cutting off the excess.

The second company I contacted was ridiculously generous!  They are Yikesid.com.  They decided to give me an ID to try AS WELL AS one for Jennifer to check out.  Both of us really like them!  The one I got has a strap like a watch band that works well as it fits any wrist size.  

Jenn's is the classic "Livestrong" band style with a smaller ID on it.  

But that's not all...  They also wanted to give YOU some ID's as well!  So, they agreed to give away:

• One Black Yikes ID Elite (https://yikesid.com/wrist-elite-runner)
• One Black Yikes ID Aware (https://yikesid.com/aware-runner)
• Two Yikes ID Runner (https://yikesid.com/runner)

Aren't they a cool company?  For those of you that don't win, Yikes wanted you to have 10% off if you decide to buy one, so use the code YIKES888 to get the discount.

Now, on to the names.

Just in case you didn't read all 66 names in the numerous comments, here is a list (those in red are honorable mentions):

1. Red Piston 
2. Robin Meade
3. Rediculous
4. Rexecutioner
5. Reducator
6. John Stamos 
7. The Red Monster
8. Red Lightning
9. Big Red
10. Raging Red       
11. The Louisville Slugger 
12. Abianne
13. Bedelia 
14. Ezri
15. Fallon
16. Indira 
17. The Red Devil
18. Edom (Hebrew for "red")
19. Beast of the Southern Wild 
20. Freight 
21. Sandtiger
22. 'Ol Red
23. Red Velvet
24. Scarlet
25. Crimson Ride 
26. Road Rage
27. Redy
28. Time Machine
29. Tyrannosaurus Red
30. Rogue
31. Red Bull
32. Chile (or Chilly or however you spell the pepper!)
33. Rover
34. Blue 
35. Clifford
36. Red shift
37. 720 nano [red wavelength and well as two full spins =)]
38. The Russian steel
39. Red badge of courage
40. Green bike (for the color blind people)
41. Thin red lines
42. Red bearing
43. Seeing red
44. El matador
45. The mars rover
46. Nile rider
47. Cinnabar Handel bars
48. Vermilion marathon
49. Red Smith (like the sports writer)
50. Red hammer
51. Road rash 
52. Ronaldo 
53. “En Fuego” 
54. Red Riding Hood
55. Charlie
56. Wedgie
57. Strawberry Bikesicle
58. John
59. Rolling Thunder
60. Circle Squared
61. Tabasco
62. Pete
63. Solo Cup
64. Nile
65. Eternal Wind
66. Perpetual Tailwind

And the winners are...

Although there were many that I thought were fantastic names, the top 4 were 

                 Jenn Batchelor - RED RIDING HOOD

                 Kevin - LOUISVILLE SLUGGER

                 Josh Woods - TYRANNOSAURUS RED

And my bike's new name will be (drumroll please)...

CLIFFORD!!! 

(from Erika Myers) 

Please contact me at Spottersmitty@gmail.com for instructions on how to get your prize!

My New Family Member (BLOG CONTEST)

I bet you all are thinking that I am announcing another kiddo on the way.  Nope!  Not yet, although I would love to have more kids one day.  Sorry for all of you that are frustrated and don't think my title was funny.  Don't stop reading!

Several months ago, I did get someTHING that is a big part of my life.  I spend a lot of time with it.  We hang out together.  We train together.  We eat and drink together.  Although it sleeps in the other room, we have a close bond as we both look toward finishing an Ironman on August 25 together.

It's my "new" bike!

I searched for what seemed like forever to find just the right one.  Ebay, Craigslist, Slowtwitch...I looked EVERYWHERE!  Finally, I knew exactly what I wanted.  I have had a Felt road bike for a long time, so I was going to go with a Felt.  Their two top models are the DA and the B2.  Both have this really cool Bayonet headset that moves with the front fork.  Of course, that HAS to make you faster, right?  So, after searching for months, I found this sweet ride!  Yay!  The only problem was, it was in Seattle, Washington.  Plus, it was on Craigslist, so I wouldn't be covered by any security from Ebay or anything else.  After emailing the guy selling this bike, we talked on the phone and skyped, and both of us felt a lot better about the transaction.  He had his buddy box it up and ship it off to me.  A week later, it got here!  I was more excited than a kid on his first day of school.  Immediately, I dropped everything to unbox it and put it all together.  Nothing was more important than getting my bike together!

Here are the details:

• 2009 Felt B2 Pro 54cm
• Dura-Ace Components
• Fulcrum Racing 5 Wheels
• Made to go FAST!!!

After some initial questioning if I had gotten a size too small, Tom and Colleen Kingery and Josh Woods helped me dial in the fit so I'm comfortable (well, as comfy as you can get on a TT bike).  I LOVE IT!  It looks good.  It rides good.  It is an incredible machine, and I absolutely enjoy riding it!

There is just one problem...it doesn't have a name!  And that's where I need your help.  Sure, I've got some good name ideas for this bike, but I want to have a bigger pool to choose from, and I thought we could have some fun while we are at it. 

A while back, I contacted YikesID about giving me some of their products to give away in a blog contest.  They make road id's just like Road ID, and they were really cool about it!  Not only did they give me and Jennifer a YikesID for free, but they will give away FOUR more id's to winners of this contest!  They really are a great company that is focused on their customers.

Contest Details

Come up with a name for my new bike and leave it in a comment.  That's it.  You can give me as many names as you want.  The more names I get to choose from, the better!  Now, here's where this contest gets completely subjective.  I will choose the top four names that I like (it's MY bike, right?), and the people that suggested those names will be the winner.  Now, I know that some of you don't participate in contests because you already have the prize and don't want to win it while someone else needs it more.  I respect that, but I want your names, too, so in your comment, just tell me that you don't want to be a part of the contest.  Got it?

So put your creative name minds to work and give me your best shot!

Missing In Action (Emphasis on Action)

Well, I know it seems that I forgot my blog, again, but I haven't.  I just haven't blogged in forever!  And although I've been a little weak on commenting on everyone else's blogs, I HAVE been reading.  Sorry for the lack of comments.

While I might have been M.I.A. on the blog front, I have been keeping up the action of training.  In fact...

I Registered For Ironman Louisville!

Just yesterday, I finally sat down and forked out the dough to be a part of IMLou on August 25.  

It's going to be awesome, and I can hardly wait, although it HAS to wait, because I'm not ready yet!  There's no way I could swim 2.4, bike 112, and run 26.2 at this stage.  It just wouldn't happen!  But I am feeling like I'm getting there quickly.

For some reason, my runs have been REALLY good!  I'm not sure if something is clicking in my head or if my legs are just stronger, but I've actually enjoyed running recently.  Crazy, right?  I bet you never thought you'd hear that from me.  On my longer runs, I've been cranking them out in the low 8-minute range and feeling good the whole time.  It's weird, because I've been getting a second wind at around 7 or 8 miles, and then it's just smooth sailing from there.  I love it!

On the bike, although I still haven't gotten my speed back, I've been feeling really good too!  I've been able to crank out some longer rides with my good buddy Josh, and he always makes the miles fly by.

On a fifty miler

Just last Wednesday, we met up at the Silver Comet (I know...it's flat, and Louisville isn't), and rode 76 miles.  We cut it pretty close as it was absolutely dark when we got back to the cars.  It did feel pretty cool to know that we had been out there for 5 hours and were the LAST people to leave.

Before the Ride

We've got a 128 mile ride scheduled for his annual birthday ride coming up in a few weeks.  That's going to be awesome!  I also got to ride with Mr. Tom Kingery!  It's great living so close to friends that you can train with.  

I'll be honest that I haven't been to the pool in awhile.  I know, I know.  I'll go back soon.  It is the least part of IMLou that I'm worried about.  I enjoy swimming and plan on relaxing for that part.  :)  Sound like a plan?

So that's a quick update on the training.  I've got some more blogs marinating, so I'll be cranking them out soon including some reviews on some cool products that I've had the privilege to try.  Plus, there's a contest coming up to help me name my new ride!

Thanks for reading, and good luck to all those that are racing this weekend.  I hope the rain holds off!