Greeting - Overweight cyclist. Been challenged to do a Triathlon

Hi everyone.

I thought I'd post to introduce myself and ask a few newbie questions.

I'm Rob. I'm 32 and I'm newly getting aquianted with the world of fitness after a year out with a back injury.

I've recently taken up road biking and bought my first road bike (Ribble Sportive Bianco)

I am absolutley loving it and have suprised myself with the distances I've been cycling already (We had a nice run from Plymouth to Exeter last weekend which is about 120km round trip) and my riding buddy has challenged me to train for a triathlon.

He's quite a fit lad and has done a couple sprint triathalons but say he wants to train with me to do Olympic length (I understand that Olympic actually means standard length and isn't quite as daunting as I first thought

So here's my questions.

I'm not hugely fat but I am overweight and quite short at 5.7"

My first real concern is wetsuits.

Being 5.7 and having a chest of about 42 inches seems to put me outside the wetsuit sizing brackets.

Do I go for a bigger suit and roll it up or squeeze into a slightly tighter suit.

Or are there places that cater for fatties like me.

My second question is, Do I need to modify my bike.

I have a Ribble Sportive 105 Bianco which I treated myself to as a reward for putting myself back on the road to fitness after my back op.

It is a wonderful ride and she eats up the miles but do I need to modify her for Triathlons?

Finally, I wonder if anyone has any pointers for a prospective newbie.

I'm prepared to meet the challange head on and with enthusiasm, I just want to avoid any embarrassment of making any obvious errors in kit selection\inexperience

Your bike will do you just fine 

Wetsuit, get to a shop and try them on ... you wil be surprised what fits!!

Have a trawl through the recent threads in the Tri section and you will find out you are not on your own .. plenty of newbies with a winter of training in front if them

Thanks guys.

I maybe went back to front.

Posted first and then spent an hour reading through a lot of posts.

A lot of inspiring stories and nice people on here.

I am looking forward to training and getting back in shape.

What time of year does the new season start ?

A full winter of training may very well be a godsend (Even if I am being forced to do a swim and cycle down Bovisand tomorrow. lol)

New season?  About April/May time

You will have duathlons and off road tris through the winter tho

Cool. I look forward to racing (myself )

Hi

Hey Seren.

How goes it

She's mad!! She makes holes in the ice and swims outdoors all year round!!

Hello Robert Wilson 23. Train smart this winter and just give it a go next year. If you like it get more serious after that

Your bike will be absolutely fine to start with. Get into it, look at what others are using and then decide if you can or should justify spending lots of wedge on expensive equipment. 

you will never be any good at triathlon with a forum name like that... come on Rob, get with the programme.  You need a decent handle.

And Chilliboy is right - Seren is nuts and does swim all year round.