Gregg's green lake cycles rents roadies and is just a few blocks down the hill from Greenwood.

Sigh. I did that race several times. Skipping this year. Broken collar bone. Do you need to know anything about the course?

Gregg's Greenlake indeed rents road bikes. They are a local chain and only borderline an LBS. Too big and busy for their own good. The go-to tri shop around here is Speedy Reedy up in Kenmore just over the Juanita Hill (great climb BTW) from Kirkland. In fact Juanita hill is part of the Kirkland tri bike course.

Bring your own pedals and shoes.

I've done the race before but not this year. I would recommend it, though. The bike course is a 400' climb followed by some rollers and a fast, curvy descent; you do two laps. Watch the corners on the descent, particularly the one just under six miles in where you turn right onto 100th. The run is out and back and mostly flat but has a couple of short, steep hills just before the turn around. Bring a flashlight for transition setup.

I would offer you a bike, but I'm no longer in the area.

Speedy Reedy doesn't rent bikes, but is definitely your best bet when it comes to a local tri shop. SR moved into a new location (still in Kenmore) just over a month ago. If you follow Juanita Drive up and over Finn Hill you will drop straight into the parking lot practically.

Echoing what others have said- watch the right hand turn onto 100th. Pavement is a bit rough and I believe there is a big manhole cover. No need to brake on the downhill though as there is a nice long straight section parallel to the school as you come into that turn during which to brake. The other corner to watch is right about the loop halfway point. You will be passing some schools on the left then make a right hand turn down a very short steep section. The right hand corner at the bottom has been the site of a few good crashes. Ride Juanita Drive in the aerobars. It is sort of borderline between false flat and hill. It often feels slow to stay in the aerobars, but after riding it a couple hundred times I can fairly conclusively say they are definitely faster.

Feel free to ask away with any other questions.

Thanks for the help guys - I definitely know what to do on the bike course. Now it's just a matter of getting a bike... I'll look up the places you recommended and see what I can work out.

For the time being, for those of you who are still in the area, spread the word if you have any friends doing the race! Help out a fellow out-of-state triathlete!

And when you come in from the swim, just because you can walk.... it doesn't mean you should. Swim as long as you can and use dolphin dives. Walking 200m in shallow water will burn you out.

He's right. That swim exit is loooong. Also the Juanita bay is usually covered in sea weed. It often reaches all the way to just below the surface. I got literally wrapped up by a stalk of seaweed. My arm locked, had to jerk to snap the seaweed and free myself. No big deal for experienced OWS swimmers. Can be panic inducing for new swimmers so watch out for that too.

This is a small race so watch out for people on mountain bikes with no bike handling ability. x3 on that long sweeping downhill. No need to brake through it, but then there's a 90 degree right turn at the bottom. Need to slow down before the bottom. I overcooked it the first year and came within 2 feet of taking out the race photographer. Bike is two loops. First half of the loop is all up. Second half is all down. You'll be climbing up Juanita hill twice. The course turns right roughly half way up the hill. If you are there before or after the race might as well climb all the way up and back down into Kenmore, then up the northern steeper side. (If you want a real challenge, try Cougar Mountain Zoo road, off Newport Way. Hee-heeee. If you want TdF style action, drive to Port Angeles and climb up to Hurricane Ridge.)

Transition is laid out really well and they have actual security. Big guy in a uniform posted at the exits and he takes his job very seriously.

The run is neat. You'll run through the park, then some sidewalk, then over a boardwalk to the other side of Juanita bay, through another park, a bit through a neighborhood (this is where a couple of short steep hills are) then turn around and come back.

It's no short haul from Greenwood to Kirkland. Give yourself plenty of drive time. No traffic on an early Sunday morning but you should still figure 30 minutes to get across the bridge

Not sure if you'll see this before the race. Juanita beach has been closed for swimming due to water quality issues. Water was expected to improve by September but was not not. Beach still closed. So I asked the race organizer a few days ago and they confirmed that the race will be a duathlon. Their web site is not updated. I'm on their mailing list and yet I've not seen an e-mail update come through.

Well, good thing I didn't bring my wetsuit... I wasn't planning on racing anyway but thanks for the tip! For anyone reading this though I will offer myself up as a runner if your team is looking for one. Thanks again Dilbert

You can always try Spinlister