Can I tri again? Will I tri again?

I have been running a LOT lately, but have not been doing any triathlons at all, probably since 2010(?).  I have not swam, well, maybe I did a few pool swims… I have not been on my bike forever.  Now that I have been living in the Bay Area for a couple of years, I have made some friends whom I can probably seek help with getting back on my bike.  But do I really want to tri again?  I did say to myself, back in 2009 when I did my very first Olympic Distance tri, that I eventually want to do a 70.3 then full distance triathlon.  What is holding me back?  The bike.

I don’t have bike skills.  I am scared as hell right now to get back on my bike.  My new friend, Christina, took me out one time, but I didn’t want to get on my bike.  I cried.  We were on Canada Road., and she said, “Honey, let’s just go down one loop to Woodside and see how you feel.”  Something like that.  I felt a little embarrassed because there were other people there that I barely knew.  I went and finally rode my bike.  All 7 miles.  Then I was done.  You see, I was never a good bicyclist, and when I fell off my bike that one time in L.A., inside a tunnel, I think it was all different for me since then.  I don’t know why it was that one incident that did it, it was not even a downhill road.  Nonetheless, I am scared to get on my bike.

So I come back to my question.  Can I tri again?  My friends said that if I decide to do a 70.3 triathlon, I need to get bike shoes.  That means I will be clipped onto my bike.  Okay that got me more scared.  I have a lot of work to do on my biking skills if I want to do triathlons again.  I believe I can do it.  When I first decided about triathlons, I didn’t know how to swim.  So I took swim classes at my local community college, then I joined my local triathlon club.  It seems like swimming came more naturally than biking.  I am not a great swimmer, but I actually enjoy swimming.  Well, let me take that back, I enjoy swimming in the pool, not the ocean!

Will I tri again?  Yes I will!  I just need to commit to working on my biking…  After my big running races this year.