Future plans for century rides

In 2012 in addition to trying to do a race a month, I plan to do a sprint duathlon and hopefully at least a half century ride (50 miles). Now, my bike is a cheap bike from Walmart. I'm not ready to go out an buy a new bike so I think I'll just have to bring the bike to the local bike shop and have them do an overhaul/tune up. Hopefully that'll be enough to at least get me through training and the initial ride. Of course, that'll have to wait until next month when I have some spare cash again. At least I don't need any extra equipment...I have all the tools, helmet, padded shorts, etc. so all I really need is to start training. I probably will eventually get a bike stand so that I can train indoors during the cold weather. I'm kind of excited because it'll also be a good cross training exercise as well.

The cycling events I'm planning are the Santa Fe Century (doing the 54 mile ride) in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Hotter 'n Hell Half Century ride in Wichita Falls, Texas and the Big Sky Duathlon in Bennett, CO. I won't begin really doing any training until after I run/walk the Tinkerbell Half Marathon at the end of January. My main thing now is to decide whether to do the Santa Fe Century with Team in Training (TNT) or not. I had planned to take close to a year off before doing another TNT event but the chance to do the training with them is very appealing. I've got about 6 weeks to decide whether to do it with them or not. If I do it would mean more fundraising...for a goal of about $1,500 or so. So many things to take into consideration. Well, I guess I'll just sleep on it and think about my options more tomorrow.