The class of Valerie Silk who, after meeting me just once in the days prior to the 1991 IM, was terribly attentive after my 13 hour finish and encouraged me to "get an IV and you'll feel better in an hour." She had sold the race a few years earlier, but her presence out there was such a positive thing.

[reply]Leon's Tri? I am right now wearing that shirt from 1991. It has three bicyclists at the bottom, orange, lime green, yellow, violet, and more. It says Leon's Tri-Fed.
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oh, leon's!!!! my first nationals, 1993. he was a full-on character. i loved biking on the empty freeway. i still have that long-sleeved shirt and wear it.
peggy

I had a dave scott centurion ironman bike...yellow and white with DH bars.....
and i also had a short sleeve wetsuit custom fitted by the tinley shop......
big bear lake tri series.....I think DeSoto use to win those!
and dont forget all those crazy colors....
what was I thinking!

Babbitt with a full beard
Ron Smith kicking everyones ass....at 50 years old
Bill Hippe
Garrett McCarthy in Irish National Team gear
Greg Welch breaking his collarbone in Kona at midnight finish-line debauchery
Sue Osborn
Tri-Prix Oceanside
Jumbotron at Ricoh LA Ironman
Doug Roberts birthday pub crawls
Bud-Light Bakersfield Triathlon
Cowman when he wasnt banished from Ironman
Oakley Factory Pilots
Teladyne Carbon Frames
Vitus Aluminum frames
Aerolite pedals (I bet Tinley still has a few boxes)

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Kurt Luoni
US Sales Manager
Orca Wetsuits

Aleeda Wetsuit with short lycra sleeves
Shimano Pedals were LOOK compatable
And what was that pressurized neoprene/surgical tube behind the seat drinking system???

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--Roberto

Representing:
De Soto Clothing
Marin Bicycles
Chariot Carriers
Karhu Skis
Kayland Boots
Nemo Tents

Bud Light Bakersfield - my first race in 1982.

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_________________________________
I'll be what I am
A solitary man

And the colours of the speedo! Fluorescent yellow, bright pink to name a few.

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Francois-Xavier Li @FrancoisLi
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." George Bernard Shaw
http://www.swimrunfrance.fr
http://www.worldofswimrun.com

Qualifying for Hawaii? What do you mean??

Mark Allen? Never heard of him

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Francois-Xavier Li @FrancoisLi
"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." George Bernard Shaw
http://www.swimrunfrance.fr
http://www.worldofswimrun.com

That is scary photo of me.

I will take you farther back with a few that I am sure Slowman and Monty and very few others will know or remember:

When they moved Ironman from Oahu to Kona (I believe it was 1981)

or
When they shortened the USTS run from 15K to 10K (1983-1984)

or
When they had moved Ironman from February to October (1982) to give those that did not live in San Diego the entire summer to train for it. There were two Ironman races that year.

or
When I showed up at Ironman 1983 with purple hair

or
When Wildflower was an art Festival that included a triathlon and you could sign up the morning of the race

or
When they did not permit wetuits at the Escape from Alcatraz (I did it twice without it)

or
The Monterey Bay Half Ironman distance race

or
The Ricoh Ironman held in Santa Monica in the spring of 1984. It was the first Ironman (TM) race outside of Kona.

or
The World Wildlife Fund Ironman distance race held in Manhattan Beach in August of 1983 with a huge prize purse, won by Tom Brady.

or
The Kauai Loves You Triathlon (1984) that was swim, run, bike, and all entrants got a Pink T-Shirt that had a cow with an egret on her back.

or
Forte Clothing

or
When they weighed you at the half way point of Ironman.

or
When Monty and Kim Bushong raced Ironman in leopard print trisuits.

or
The very first pro triathlon race, the Malibu Triathlon (self proclaimed) National Championships in October 1982, where they pulled 1/3 of the field out of the surf with hypothermia, won by Ferdy Massomino.

or THE HUMAN RACE Triathlon in Newport Beach that started with a 25 criterium style draft legal race, followed by a 10K run, followed by a 1000m swim.

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Emilio De Soto II
Maker of triathlon clothing, T1 Wetsuits, & Saddle Seat Pads and AXS since 1990
emilio@desotosport.com http://www.desotosport.com

I was watching sport on TV last year and on came a road race somewhere in the NE US, and the Puntos twins appeared on the screen! Took me back to a race I did in Milton Ontario years ago and they were there. Based on how old they looked, I realized I'm pretty old now too. :-(

I have an original Timex IM watch. Orange and black, 8 laps. I now have it mounted on my wall, in a museum quality shadow frame, with my first IM finish time engraved on the back. It looks funny now, beside my wifes great grandmothers watch in a similar frame, particularly since the antique watch (pocket watch style) has a retaining strap made of intricately braided hair, my wifes great grandmothers hair in fact! (it was a craft thing ladies did in the evening, in place of needlepoint apparently) Sure my watch looks kind of pathetic beside that, but in 100 years, how many original Timex IM watches will still be around?

I also have an original steel QR tribike (650 of course) that I'm restoring for posterity too (complete with 8speed Gripshifters! :-)

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Leons QEM drink, I still have a Dave Scott bike (I'll take offers), How about those styrofoam wings you put on your arms and calfs, Shannon Kurek had some.

rtk,

Are you, me, Tricia and QRman (aka slowman) the only ones that still remember RST?

RST is how we met. My daughter occassionally wears the T-Shirt you brought her back from Kona years ago. All the boys pay attention because it fits very revealingly. Who would have thought a fashion horse like her would still wear a 11 year old shirt, especially when she's only 19 now!

I never got any rst gear, but I still have a QR racing singlet (also DSS) that I bring out when I do 'retro' races that pop up here from time to time. My fat guts hanging out highlights the reason why crop tops thankfully died a natural death (except for the fas guys) long ago. My flouro Tinley tri shorts get dragged out to finish the ensemble.

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

I almost bought a Slingshot, but ended up with my first QR. Slingshots were waaaaaay cool!

The willingness to experiment in the early days of triathlon was fantastic. Everyone trying to find out a faster way, while cyclists looked down their noses at us....then adopting just about every one of our great ideas!

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

I just ordered and received 2 QR seat covers (neoprene I think you mean, instead of lycra) and I swear by them. I have them on my commuter bike and race bike. And that's on top of a gel seat! The ride is like sitting in a Cadillac....mmmmmmmm

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Kiwi's were famous for causing the advent of the "no-nudity in transition" rules.

In fact, at a local 1/2 IM race here in NZ, the race director still activley and publicly encourages nudity in transition atthe race briefing, and quite often has good prizes for women that do the 'full monty'! He also has prizes for those that complete the "4th event" after the half IM. (You have to be able to convince your partner to go up on stage to corroborate the claim) That competition is so popular now, he has had to introdude a Masters Division.

Gotta love Hooksie. Man after my own heart :-)

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

you did not have to wear a hard shell helmet at Ironman,
the shorter distance LA Ironman that finished on the Santa Monica pier,
the top pro's showed up at any race where there was any money,
changing with a towel wrapped around you (if anything)
waiting 6 weeks to get any details on the Ironman except a paragraph in the paper.
Dave Scott having the fastest swim, bike, and run times in Oct '82 race. Eisentraut bicycles,
No wetsuits allowed,
Centurian Triathlon (ironman distance, did Jeff Tinley win that?) in Redondo Beach

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Team Zoot So Cal

Legend has it that IMNZ, in St Heliers, was the first IM outside of Kona. They have their 25th anniversary next year I think, making it 1 year older? than Santa Monica. I could be wrong however.

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

1987, the same year that he finished with internal bleeding.

For the Chicago triathlons in the 1980s we were required to get our bikes certified for safety at a LBS before the races and get a safety sticker to put on the bike. The LBS hassled me because I wanted to do my first Chicago Triathlon on my 10 speed K-mart bike. What BS.
I still have my plastic yellow J-disc and my orange and blue Bodyglove wetsuit which was made of some non-rubber material. Ah, the good old days.

You mean the yellow and black ones? I loved those.

Scott Molina had a helmet named after him ? :) :)

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"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream" - Les Brown
"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment" - Jim Rohn

"Dave Scott Ironman Master Centurion Tri Bike. With Bio-Pace rings!"

Still got my magenta and gold one. Three of my daughter's previous boyfriends have used it so far. Her fiancee is using it at Accenture this year. He better not break it.

"Beers at the finish line when you did any Bud Light USTS race"


Those 6-7 beers tasted great. Even back then before the Internet I knew how important proper hydration was post-race. I started thinking about the finish line beers at about 4 miles into the run. Great motivation.

[reply]rtk,

Are you, me, Tricia and QRman (aka slowman) the only ones that still remember RST?
--------------------------------
hey, what about me? i have a ticket to the rst ball, too. remember when we were all to meet up at worlds in cleveland, and to find you with a protest sign (against the itu, as i recall) and blonde ponytail? we met all sorts of people through rst, and it was lots of fun.
peggy

I had that sign from Cleveland for a long time

"drafting IT sUcks" was what it said.

I stole that from the back of Peter Reids shirt at a 1/2 IM in Collingwood Ontario in about '94 I think.

Les McDonald had his security team chasing me most of the day. I got right behind him for one of his TV interviews! Good fun. Got the sign into the finish line photos in '96 when Simon Lessing won. Had to dash to get away. Had to dash away again when I was perched atop a nearby statue with it and Clevelands finest came after me. Luckily being short, I was able to scurry away in the crowd at the finish line.

A few years ago at IMNZ, someone stole it. I should make another one...bigger this time, just to remind IMNZ competitors to stay draft legal.

Peggy, when you coming back south again?

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"