New [used] bike and MS150!

After 2 days of shopping around and searching online, Jimmy bought a used Bianchi Brava bike from a guy on Craigslist. Ironically, he was less than a 5 minute drive from us and was Catholic and from Peru :-). So we ended up chatting with him a bit about our trip to Peru and 15 minutes later, we left with a nice, sturdy steel frame Bianchi Brava. It is a 55 cm bike with a carbon steel fork and Shimano Sora components...if that is Greek to you, just know that its an entry level race bike. The reviews online are generally pretty favorable so let's hope it lasts!

The alternative was a Specialized Allez...also an entry model. It was a pretty sweet looking bike [see right], except about $300 more! The Specialized was nice, but probably a bit overkill for Jimmy's needs at the moment. Plus it would be tough to see this baby rusting on our balcony during Boston's long and harsh winter! And lets be honest: Jimmy always looks for a deal and its definitely cheaper to buy used than new :-0.

So, we get home and since we both now have racing bikes, Lisa decides to look up some races for the summer. And sure enough, we sign up for the MS 150 from Boston Harbor to Cape Cod! Essentially, we'll bike 150 miles over the span of 2 days and raise some cash for a cure for Multiple Sclerosis. It sounded good at the time...but now we need to "train" for the ride, which is just over a month away.

If you have any training tips, please let us know. Also, we need your help to hit our $500 fundraising goal! Ideally, we'd raise much more. You can help us reach our goal by clicking on the "Donate to Team Tran" link on the far right side of this web page :-).