This year, I've been getting most of my triathlon and running gear from TriSports.com. Their prices are very competitive and they have just about everything I want in stock. The clincher for me the first time I used them is that they take PayPal so I get so spend some of my ad revenue quickly and easily.

For small orders, their USPS shipping prices are typically cheaper than UPS Ground but at some point (likely weight and/or number of items), UPS Ground is less expensive so you'll want to try both options at checkout. I've found that the delivery times for both are about the same and sometimes USPS is even quicker. TriSports gets stuff out quickly and I've never had a delay in getting what I ordered or any problems with my orders.

A nice touch that I noticed after an order or two was that the packing slip for each order had a hand-written, personalized thank-you note on it. Another nice touch came in the mail yesterday: their holiday card with a group photo on front and everyone's signature inside.

While I like to support our local running and tri shops, for consumables (gels, supplements, etc.) I just can't justify the travel time and larger markup. If you're looking for running, swimming, or tri gear check out TriSports.com.

A couple weeks ago, I ordered my wife and I the Bike Hugger jersey. I was impressed by the looks of the photos they had on their site of the actual jersey and also of the product graphics. Even though they note that the jerseys are made by Hincapie Sports of their best materials, I was still surprised how nice this jersey is.

The fit--as noted--is slim. Since I am as well, I ordered my normal Large size which fits perfectly. It is a bit snug but not tight. There are two features that set this apart from any other jersey I've had. First, is the full-length zipper. Being able to unzip all the way and open the jersey on a ride is nice and it also makes it easier to get on and off--especially over sunglasses or a helmet. The second is the gel-grip waist. This is similar to the rubbery line at the bottom of most cycling shorts that keeps them from riding up. Same thing goes here and this does a great job of keeping the bottom of the jersey where you want it.

Other than the technical features, this jersey just looks and feels great. My wife and I are both happy with ours and at $75 the price is very affordable. I've had jerseys that were the same price or a few bucks more that weren't nearly as comfortable or as stylish. I'm waiting for the next design :-)

Related side note: I ordered these via Amazon on a Monday to get here by Wednesday (free shipping since I have Prime) so I would have Julie's by the weekend for her ride. On Wed., I left the house for about an hour and that was when UPS said it was delivered to my front door. I checked about an hour after I got home and didn't see it. I searched my yard and also the side door and couldn't find it. I waited until Thurs. to see if maybe it would get redelivered or if one of my neighbors got it by mistake but it didn't show.

I used Amazon's callback feature and was called and connected to an agent who had my info. on her screen. She said they would re-ship the order and she added the items to my cart and said I'd get a credit for the purchase price plus $5 to cover my cost for Prime overnight shipping. Sure enough, in about an hour I got an email saying the credit had been processed and I placed the order with overnight shipping. The package showed up on Fri. afternoon and everyone was happy. Amazon rocks!

I bought my wife a Forerunner 305 for her birthday yesterday (yes, I'm a nice guy) and noticed that at some point since I got my replacement in late March, they are now shipping them with power adapters. This is a nice touch so you don't have to plug it in to your computer--or have one available--to charge your Forerunner. Perfect for traveling.

If you're still thinking about getting one of these, now you have one more reason. Amazon.com has them for $210.69 as I type this.

I upgraded Safari on my MacBook to Beta 3 yesterday. The MotionBased plugin loads fine and it all looks good when doing an upload since I see the transfer messages on the Garmin, however it never completes and uploads it to MotionBased. I uninstalled the beta to go back and it works fine.

Just an FYI in case anyone is thinking of upgrading.

My wife and I finally broke down and bought new bikes. Speaking of broke...

We both got 2007 Cervelo P2Cs. These bikes are beautiful, light, and fast. And, they're fast. Really fast. Even a slow schlub like me can fly on this bike.

 

I've only put about 50 miles on it so far but that will change this Saturday when we do the Gulfcoast Half in Panama City. I'm dying to see how this feels during a race since during training it has added at least one MPH to my average speed and even that feels easy. 

No, this isn't an April fool's joke. I saw on gpsreview.net that Garmin released a beta of WebUpdater for the Mac. I'd try it on my Forerunner 305, but since I just got a new one from Garmin after my old one died during a firmware update, I'll hold off until the production release.

Two weeks ago I decided to upgrade the software and GPS firmware on my Forerunner 305. The software updated OK but the firmware upgrade completed and my Forerunner didn't come back to life.

I tried all the troubleshooting tips on the Garmin site and even waited for the battery to die and recharged it to see if that would help, but it was still dead. So, I called up Garmin tech support and after only have to press two options in there phone tree was connected with a very nice support tech who walked me through a few more options. Unfortunately, the determination was is would require repair service so I had to send it in.

They said it would be 7-14 days after they received it. I was getting ready to leave the next day for a snowboarding trip and wanted to have it to track my HR on the mountain but it wasn't going to happen. On Friday which was less than 14 days after I had mailed it off, I got a package back with a brand new Garmin in it!

I've noticed the screen contrast is a bit better on this one but I haven't really had a chance to play around with it more to see if there were any changes made since I got mine when they first came out. I'm very pleased with Garmin's service. 

OK, the new Garmin Forerunner Quick-release Mounting Kit is going onto my wishlist. The kit includes a quick-release wrist strap and also a bike mount. You just pop the Forerunner out of either to switch between bike and run. This would be perfect for triathlons since I could wear the wrist strap during the swim, have the unit already on the bike, and pop it out and onto the wrist strap for the run without losing any time for putting the whole thing on after the swim.

The Garmin Forerunner 305 Foot Pod Accessory is now available from at Amazon.com and garmin.com

If you have a Mac and have been waiting for Garmin to make Training Center Mac compatible, your wait is almost over. If you will be at Mac World in San Francisco in early January, you can pick up a CD there. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until late January to download it.

If anyone is going to be there and would be kind enough to pick me up a CD, I'll gladly pay you to ship it to me. If you're technically inclined, I can also give you FTP access if you want to burn me an ISO image and upload it. I'll even throw in a beer or so.