Last December I proved one of my favourite sayings

"You can do a 1/2IM on no training"

I also proved that you cannot do a 1/2 IM WELL on no training. Managed a personal worst, but like my previous personal worst race, I had a blast, making new friends, encouraging other non-trainers and cajoling friends while they headed to the finish line while I was still heading for the turn-around.

I am actually doing longer and longer stuff as I get older. That short stuff just hurts too much. I just can't force myself to suffer at high intensity and high heartrates (that my cardiologist has banned me from anyway), but I can chug along for a long long time without too much problem.

Good luck racing this season. I just had my first really cold ride to work after a wonderfully long, warm autumn. At least there wasn't a cloud in the sky,it was just pretty chilly.

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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 used to have the Aussie team colour one and you could see me from miles away.That was my favourite helmet ever.Wish I could get my hands on a couple now.

where is bill leach. we have a couple of scores to settle on the road...............

Adam had the Aussie team colored one too with his name laminated into it along with his other sponsors including J-disc. Saucony and Canondale.
the cool ones he had were lime green, flouro orangèand a couple of thai dyed style psychodelic patterns.

he used to hand off a ton of helmets to us except his Aussie team helmets.

ahhhh the memories!

I was riding the Trek 1200 back in 1988...the black one with the neon pink graphics...105 in that cool slate grey polished finish...and Scott DH bars on the front. I remember wondering why I had to get the size 52 to have it feel "right" when in the aero position (my normal road bike size is 54)...just a few years later I discovered QR and Dan's perspective on aero bikes...then I knew why...

Anyway...I had pink bar tape and a white turbo saddle on that rig...very LOUD...

Remember in the mid-80's just dropping trou and changing in T1? Back then there were no "no-nudity" rules. I remember my GF at the time came to a race and couldn't stop talking about it afterward.

I not only remember most of this stuff, I still have a lot of it. I still do sprints on my Kestrel 4000 with Scott Clip-ons, J-Disc, 7-speed GripShift (I still like it much better than bar-ends). Also on there is a Suburban Machinery forward Titanium seatpost. Anyone remember those?

I also have a SeatShifter that is on my trainer bike that I am on all the time. Picked it up for 10 bucks at a swap meet a few years back and it still works perfectly. Those goofy things cost like $175 when they came out or I might have tried one back then.

I still have one of the Jetstream drinking systems also - haven't used that in a while, but it was pretty cool. 48 oz in a bladder that started out the size of an egg. I think I stopped using it after the race where I went over some tracks and the tube came loose and Gatorade exploded all over me and my bike and it took me forever to clean up the bike - all in the gears and everything.

I also still have a pair of the Arc Bars on my trainer bike. These were the first clip on aerobar ever made I believe - Ken Glah rode them for years and used to endorse them.

I also have one of those contraptions that was out for a few years that looks like a sissy bar on a kids bike. Anyone remember what that thing was called? It mounted on the back of your saddle and the idea was you could get way back in the saddle going uphills and push back as hard as you could and it held you in the seat. I don't think I ever raced with that one - looked too damn goofy, but I still have it downstairs with all the other old gizmos.

Shit I'm old.

we must have had 50 helmets around the house at some times

I don't like to say it, but when I started out cycling in the early 80's we did not wear helmets when training. It was only in triathlon races that we wore helmets. This was the case with me up until, I am guessing some time in the mid to late 80's when the helmets had evolved beyond the Skid Lid and the Bell V1 Pro and I started wearing a helmet full time. I am loath to admit it but there was something very cool and liberating about riding down the road with the wind blowing in your hair. I would never do this today, and I always wear a helmet no matter what type of riding I am doing - even riding the beater bike to the store to pick up some milk and a loaf of bread.

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I think Suburban Machinery is STILL around!

Here's another name from the past: Aerosports.

All of us old-timers can remember the stuff they put out, right?

I have fond memories living in Clearbrook , hammering down the street on my ten speed with foamie handle-bars coming back from the store. There was a feeling of being free and "one with the earth" when the wind is blowing through your hair.

Something I cringe at today. Thank god I never wiped out.

I don't even get on my bike without putting on a helmet.

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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

Hey, Cannucks, whatever happened to "Moose" up at IMC? That guy was unbelievable. Pics get extra credit.

hey Allan..that would be Pawsh! and I had one until I sent it south as part of the PS build for Tibbs a little over a year ago. Still an awesome cover after almost a decade

That's right ... the old Pawsh cover. I had one on my Centruian Ironman Expert, with 7 spd grip shifters, Suntour components, Avenir saddle and those old Scott clip ons with the "cut your forearm" arm rests. I had some decent races on that old bike.

> I have only been around 10 years but I wish that they still had Quick Discs.

Oh, yes. Those were awesome!!! Tasted like watered down grape cool-aid, but very effective. I might even have a temporary tatoo left somewhere in my box of tri-memories...

David W / FEY2K

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I used to have a signature...

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

I remember RST when it was the place for tri-geeks to hang out online -- before the spammers and trolls ruined it.

Some of my best memories from RST:
- RST get-togethers before a race (USTS in Acworth, GA was one I helped organize)
- Tri-baby's tri-bars/brownies
- Great race reports
- Being a newbie, then helping other newbies

David W / FEY2K

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I used to have a signature...

I'm not a Canadian, but I remember Moose...Steve Wallick if my memory serves me correctly...from Moosejaw, SAS....he was a fireman. Was the eternal "runner-up" behind Ray Browning's winning streak in Penticton.

Wasnt Moose like 190 lbs????

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Kurt Luoni
US Sales Manager
Orca Wetsuits

Whatever happened to J-Disc? I had an old white one but out sold it a few years back. They were flimsy but must have been cheap to make and repair.

Ten Speed Drive Imports ads
Tinley clothing
Nishiki NFS Altron...like the one I still have.
Texas Hill Country triathlon...one of my old fav's.
the Thor-Lo ad with the guy dong the run leg in his socks

17. No such thing as trail shoes

I call you on this one. I made my first visit the US in 1981, and bought a pair of Nike Lava Domes, which were the precursor of contemporary trail shoes (*) I did so having already worn a couple of pairs of Welchs, the quintessential UK fell running shoe (which by the early 2000 could be seen in the windows of fashionable shoes stores in Firenze, I kid you not). Trail shoes were definitely in place for the early history of this sport, but nobody wore them.

(*) Nike's ad campaign for these involved mentioning a couple of summits that had been conquered in their existing running shoes and saying "we think thats cool, but we'd rather offer you a pair of shoes that are actually meant for that kind of thing"

Aerosports - they made one of the earliest carbon bars. In fact, I have the Aerosport carbon pursuit bard on my indoor trainer bike, a Nishiki Triathron (yup, that is how it is spelled). The bike also has a 'Torque Platform' forward seatpost gadget - mounts between the top of the seatpost and the saddle to move the seat angle forward by a few degrees.

Brian

Souza's Mullet.

'nuff said.

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

1. Hawaii Ironman and Ironman Canada were the only ironman races
2. Almost all the best in the sport had mustaches (except the women)
3. Zofinger, Nice and the Desert Princess were premier events
4. "Biathlons" were popular and there was a friendly rivalry between triathletes and biathletes.
5. You remember the name change from Biathlon to Duathlon.
6. Triathletes put Zofinger on their race calender.

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Adrian in Vancouver

Remember the 30 seconds or so when "Cyruthlon" was used as a name after "Biathlon" fell out of favor?

Digging deeper into the esoteric & weird tri-memory:
1. Team J-David.
2. Pioneer Tri Team
3. 1985 Ironman Tinley w/aero shoe covers & full aero gear vs Chris Hinshaw in cutoff Tshirt fresh from the fields of IL.
4. Djan Madruga
5. Lisa Lahti--maybe the hottest female triathlete ever.
6. Exceed Energy Drink---still have 4-5 gallons that expired in the early 90s that still work quite well.
7. Leon's Q.E.M. Energy Mix. It was pink. Great triathlon though.
8. The original Dura Ace 6 speed index system.
9. Gallie/Campagnolo anondized components.
10. Drilled brake levers, chainrings, shifters---it was all about weight.
11. 1982-1984 Dura Ace Aero---ahead of its time.
12. Campagnolo clipless pedals---shiniest 1 1/2lb hunks of metal on the market.
13. Zipp carbon frames---still popular & faster than just about anything currently produced.

And some strong names from the midwest scene: Brian Boggs, Michael Smith, Jay Allardt.

It was just much simpler then.

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"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." John Rogers

The cattle grids on the way up to Hawi