My overly generous sisters gave me a $400 REI giftcard for my 40th birthday. The theme of the whole gift was "second childhood"--they gave me 40 gifts, all things from my childhood (Slinky, crayons, bubblegum, Spirograph, etc.), and the last gift was this giftcard. They had in mind that I could use it to get a "fun" bike of the cruiser/comfort variety, but they also know that I'm vaguely in the market for an entry level road bike for the triathlon I'm doing this summer. Currently my only bike is my 20 year old touring/commuting bike. It's the best bike in the world and I love it and it fits me perfectly, and it *would* get me through the triathlon, but something lighter might be less tiring, not to mention somewhat faster (although for the record my only goal is to finish the race. I don't care about fast.).

So I'm not sure what to do with this money. Put it towards a road bike from REI (limited selection, don't entirely trust the REI staff to fit me properly)? Plunk it down on a pink Townie (or something similar, although probably not pink. I'm not a big pink fan. And I'm not sure how much use I'd get from a bike like this. It's fun, sure, but in reality how many leisurely rides to the nearby coffeeshop and library do I actually do? Um, none.)? Buy a whole lot of socks and either get a road bike elsewhere or suck it up and ride Maggie Miyata?

So I'm just throwing this out there for ideas. If you had $400 to spend at REI, what would you get?

Sarah

P.S. And how cool are my sisters?