Last summer I was "dared" that I couldn't complete a Try-a-triathlon. Well, I never did complete that race, I did a sprint instead! As soon as I crossed the finish line, my mind was set on doing more tris.
This is my first real triathlon season, I've got 2 or 3 sprints lined up, but my A race is an Oly on August 1st.
Also, because I didn't actually own a bike, I recently bought one for $5 at a yard sale, an old CCM "Mistrel" (something like that, I can never remember how to spell/say it). It rides really nice and I'm in the process of fixing it up for some races.