Early in my triathlon career, I wore my wetsuit backwards for several races unit lI was informed that the zipper belonged in the back...

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DFL > DNF > DNS

Love it! Did that in my first race but a kindly soul informed me before the race started.

Fine, I'll admit another Dumb Thing...This wasn't IN a triathlon, but I am known in my home town for being the ONLY triathlete let alone cyclist who replaced a shredded tire successfully with a new tire, placing it INSIDE OUT. I did two sprint races with very decent bike splits, then noticed there was "something wrong" with my tire - took it to the bike shop: complained that the tire was literally falling apart with these weird threads everywhere like I'd ridden through a forest of cottonwood trees. He has owned the shop for decades and swears he's never ever heard of anyone successfully replacing let along racing on a tire inside out. Aren't I talented?

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I'll see you in the run

Lol, my first discovery tri: Ran out of T2 with the helmet on my head.

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http://RoadID.com/...te/4HC4V-TAFQ9XPJDTX

Even the pros have issues...


The dumbest thing I ever did was Alcatraz w/o BodyGlide.
Not me, but essentially the same effect.

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

I wonder how long #50 rode before noticing her bike was backwards?
Hope your neck has recovered. Ouch!

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I'll see you in the run

didn't velcro my chip tight enough in once race. The fishies recorded my splits.

 
Pmsl.....

"Doctor" Amanda Stevens.

train when I've been ill - like at the moment :-(

I tried to do this once. Got yelled at by the guy watching everyone leave T1.

But the dumbest thing I ever did was attempt to do a sprint tri when I was in terrible shape.

5 minutes into the swim I knew I was in trouble. Finished the race though. Awful, just awful.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

Passed on the right around 3 TNT people blocking the whole road.

Attempted a flying mount for the first time in a race. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

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I borrowed a non-swimming, poorly fitting, short sleeve, wet suit for my first Olympic... I was in the best swim shape of my life at the time and was expecting a really good swim. About 200 meters into the lake my shoulders were completley toasted from fighting the wet suit. 52 minutes later I finished the swim completley exhausted and my arms were so weak I could barely get the wetsuit off.

That seems to be a common mistake. Good you survived!

Lifetime MN in 2012, I believe. This was the first race I competed in that was not wetsuit legal. I was excited because I'd finally get to wear the new swim skin I had. Amazingly, I came out of the water in 2nd position in the Elite wave. With all the excitement coming through transition I simply forgot to take off my swim skin. Three misfortunes as a result of my great swim.

1. It was hot as sh*t. So I would now suffer in the MN summer heat.
2. If you've ever sat on a bike seat with a swim skin it's essentially a velcro effect. This equaled torn up undercarriage!
3. About midway through bike I couldn't take the tight skin and hotness. I attempted to peel it down to my waist while riding. I did manage to get it down, but in the process I tore my brand new skin that I was so excited to wear.

"Fat guy in a little swimskin" Live'n Learn....Always learning.

Jake Rhyner

Elbaman. Transition is a bit a way from the swim. I got all sorted and put th bottom of my wet suit on. Walk to the swim start, finish to put the wetsuit on, and realise I had lost my hat and goggles. Panic, I run back to transition, can't find anything in my bags, beg for a new hat and goggles, nothing. So I run back to swim start planning to swim without goggles. Minutes before the start I notice a bulk on my stomach: hat and goggle were carefully tucked in. I quickly undressed, retrieved my precious hat and goggles, suit up seconds before the start. It ended up being my PB swim, full of adrenaline :)

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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

I was going hard in sprint race. I was passes on the run, twice. After getting passed the second time.... I was so pissed at myself that I was now in 5th place and..... I started walking.

Turns out, three people ahead of me were in a different age group, but they started us all in the same wave.

So, I was ACTUALLY in second place! By walking, I was no longer on the podium. Damn! Stupid.

Yesterday. I came into transition after the swim. Went right to my bike row and was literally 2 feet from my bike. But I couldn't see it. I spent a good 45-60 seconds panicking looking for my stuff until I realized it was literally right in front of my nose. Good times.

quit

You thought that were in 5th place so you just gave up? Podium or who cares?

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

Run next to a guy wearing a gorilla suit. NEVER doing that one again!

Once I was doing a sprint, and because it was "only a sprint" I didn't really look closely at the course map or do any kind of preparation, I just showed up. Half way through the first bike loop I was looking around and realized I couldn't see anyone on a bike. I slowed and thought "Uh oh... did I take a wrong turn?". So I stopped. Nothing, no bikes coming around the corner. No sounds of volunteers cheering or directing traffic. So I actually started back tracking until I got near the previous corner when some guy comes FLYING around, almost directly in to me, and I get an ear full from him as he speeds away. Right after that 3 guys come around the corner and blow by me with incredulous looks like "what the hell is this idiot doing?!". I was barely moving at this point, tried a quick turn, fell over while clipped in, managed to unclip, turn around, and off I went. Front door brag: still won my AG ;). Also that was the only time I've ever won, or even placed in my AG! Go figure!

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Long Chile was a silly place.

I entered one.

That's not even true. I did a relay as the bike leg and it was pretty fun. I had a decent split (thanks to not having to swim or run), and only almost died twice. Once when a cop let a car through an intersection is was approaching at +30mph and I had to get all over the brakes (thank god /i was on a road bike. The second time I passed on the right (I didn't know), and got what I think was a tongue lashing. I guess I spooked her, but why she was riding in the center of the lane is beyond me. That was 5 years ago. Lesson learnt!

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

In my first triathlon I realized that a LOT of people were passing me on the bike portion even though I thought I was pushing a decent amount of watts. It was weird seeing big heavy bikes passing me on hills! I realized after the race that my front brakes were significantly rubbing. I could barely push my bike out of the transition! Lesson learned!

First race ever, West Palm Beach in May, Olympic, I had done zero training going in... did the race on a bet.

Survived the swim, bike took a long time, didn't have a race belt so I had pinned my race number to a t- shirt for the run. A black t shirt. It was almost 100 when I finished.

Last weekend. Dd an Oly distance race where the swim is in the Thames. 1000m upstream, 500m downstream. The current was quite strong - so much so that at the start you had to work hard to hold your position in the water.

Now just about everyone - me included - knows that in a river the current is strongest in the middle of the river and slowest close to the bank.

I managed to swim the upstream section right up the middle. So badly that I swam into one of the kayakers and got a bollocking. By the time I rejoined the main field I was in with the breaststrokers. Quite annoying, when I'm usually in the top quarter of the swim field.

Completely fucked my day. Cost me 6, maybe 7 minutes. And a lot of energy.

Makes for a great story though.

Not in the race but before the race. It was July 1997 and I phoned Ironman Canada and left a message asking if it is too early to enquire about signing up for that year's race. They never phoned back.

Far from my first race but did not understand why even though I thought I was pushing hard on the bike, was getting passed by lots of folks. When I got on the run thought I was going to die.

I happened to spin my front wheel in transistion after the race, and it barely turned. Yep, brake grab. I still have to deal with that at ever race. Luckily I have checked often enough I have found this many times
before a race start.

Boy did I feel dumb, but lesson learned.

.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

How do you not notice that while riding? I've only had a brake grab once but I noticed it within two minutes of transition and fixed it.

I guess that's part of what makes me so awesome.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

Let's see. No power meter. No HR monitor. I did feel it pull to one direction. Just never had this issue so had no idea what was going on.

Now I have opened the brakes a few times while racing if I think something is rubbing.

So, this thread does say the dumbest thing you have done, so yep, it was pretty dumb.

.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

I use none of this stuff.

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How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

Breezy Point Triathlon, 2005, my first ever triathlon. I went for a pre-race ride to warm up, when I got back to transition I couldn't unclip my foot, so I fell over and took out 1/2 of the transition area fencing... keeping it classy.

I do know of someone (USAT did an article on her) who forgot her bike shoes for Ironman Cozumel, left them at the house, on the back porch. She rode barefoot for about 30 miles before trying to create a platform from cardboard at an aid station.

Why do your brakes adjust position so easily and get out of alignment?? I've never had a brake grab in 15+ years.

I think what is happening is while taking my bike to the race in my bike carrier, the front tire is held by the arm. So, it gets jarred around. Now, maybe I also have not tighened
the skewer enough. Bottom line is to do some type of bike check when you get to a race is what I have learned. I also now spin the front and rear wheels on the racks just
to make sure.

I have left my timing chip at the wrong place. Once I left at home. Another time I left in transistion.

I also have left the top of my 2 piece Desoto wetsuit home. That was one cold ocean swim.

I put my running shoes on when I was trying to get ready to ride the bike.

.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Doing the Austin Tri Olympic a few years back and came into T2, hadn't paid enough attention to which rack I was in. Run up and down a couple aisles, saw my running shoes and racked my bike, put on my shoes and realized this was someone else's spot (and shoes!). Same brand & model shoes, wrong size. I hurriedly took off the shoes, tried to put them back exactly as I found them and saw my actual spot one rack over. Doh.

My front wheel comes off during transport. I put my bike inside my suv and I have to be very careful putting my wheel back on.

At the Kansas 70.3 there were several announcements looking for someone with a size 10.5 running shoe to lend. With 2 transitions you would think you would notice not having any shoes at T2,

Happened to me a while back. I fortunately recorded the time myself so I knew. Even better, I came in 5th AG (or would have, had I not lost my chip) so I didn't feel bad about it. I would have been *really* ticked if my time netted me a podium spot and I couldnt claim it.

Ya I remember being *that guy* who fucked up his whole "shoes already on the bike" mount because I never practiced it. Seemed like something easy so why not?

right...

I never tried that again :P

Coming out of T1, on the bike, I go with no hands on the bars, both hands up onto helmet to grab and put sunglasses on, wind comes up, blows me right into a volunteer. Found her later to apologize. She was having none of it.

Not using the toilet before the race.

1st race ever (4 months ago). Just got on my bike and stood out of the saddle to get up to speed. I had a gargantuan fart that I let rip, and proceeded to shit all over myself. That was a soggy, and stinky bike ride. Come to think of it the run was shit too :)

Froze my bike water bottle for a Mid July South Texas tri using an insulated bottle. It didn't dethaw in time so had no fluids during the bike and got dehydrated.

It inly takes a hit to them from another bike in transition to knock them over to rub. Easy to do but easy to fix too.

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who's smarter than you're? i'm!

LOL! I just spit out my tea reading that one.

I signed up for a half ironman for my first ever triathlon.

First words out of my mouth were..."I'm never doing a triathlon again".

That was in 2001....many, many, triathlons ago.

I was all ready to go on the beach in a sprint and I was in the zone. Had a great warm up and there I was focused and I looked down and saw the anklet timing chip on the guy next to me. SHIT I forgot to stop for a chip!! The announcer says "4 Minutes until the wave sets off" I had to run from the beach 500m to the registration area and back. I got to the water out of breath (but fully warmed up) with 10 seconds to spare. Needles to say I'm always patient in the registration portion of the races now.

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"Train so you have no regrets @ the finish line"

Maybe my second tri... a sprint.
Come out of t1, jump on the bike.
Try to take off, but realize I'm not going anywhere.
At this point I'm getting on people's way.
I don't know what the problem is, I'm a bit flustered and volunteers are telling me to step of to the side... which I finally do, and realize my chain came off while transporting my bike to the race in my SUV.

Big lesson... check to make sure bike is functional before the race.

 - 1/2 distance triathlon.
- Do these all the time, no big deal, right?
- Relay, planned on only doing the swim (good practice.)
- Runner had the flu the week before. (I'm a pretty good runner, hey, good practice.)
- Biker had never done 90k before, but hey, not concerned about the time, right?
- Swam, felt pretty good. Passed chip onto my compatriot.
- Time to kill, hey, lets go for breakfast.
- Local breakfast place, eat a meat skillet.
- Start the run.

Yeah. Run was interesting.

GPS: Sprint, stop, sprint, stop, sprint, stop, sprint, stop, sprint, stop, sprint, stop.

Yeah, not my brightest moment.

In my first Oly I was so nervous that when I ran into T1 I could not find my gear. Cost me almost 15 minutes. In the same race ran out of T2 with my bike helmet on.

Posted this one before, but to date nothing tops it.

I was a sophomore in high school. It was the first year of a local triathlon which has fortunately turned into the largest race in my area. I was a distance swimmer at the time, and being 16 at the time, I got tossed in the first wave with waves going about every 1:00 (they were't really sure what they were doing at the time as far as race organization goes yet). Knowing swimming was my strength, I figured I should capitalize on it as much as possible. Swam maybe the fastest 750 meters of my life, and being an decent swimmer, I came out of the water with about a 2 minute lead (and would later find out the 3rd fastest split by just 4 seconds).


Well, my hyped up brain says "Woah, you're in first place. You could totally win this thing!" (ignoring the looming 19 mile ride and 5K still to follow). So naturally I had to continue to push the gap and gain a bigger cushion in any way I could. So I sprint into transition, throw on my helmet, look down at the footwear and say to myself "F*** socks. Putting on socks with just waste time. Surely I can do the next 22 miles of this race without socks and any repercussions." I hop my Wal-Mart Maga 26" mountain bike (Don't worry...I had an extra water bottle cage on it) and my T1 time from water exit to mount was 0:44.


I get on my bike and just start spinning. At this point in my young life, I had no idea what gears on a bike meant. So I'm probably spinning on like 34-26 or something of the sort. Basically, my cadence was pushing what felt like 120 with my speed hovering near 14 mph. But I was in first place, so who cares. Which lasted for a full minute after transition. My most vivid memory of my first triathlon will be guys passing me tucked into their aerobars with aero helmets, giving me looks as if they were angry at the race coordinators for not clearing the course of children out for leisure rides.


I got passed by nearly 80 people on the bike course. Was completely toast. Ran the 5K in almost 30 minutes. And remember that part about not putting on socks? I had blisters covering the entire insides of both feet and I couldn't walk normal for 2 weeks.

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____________________________________________________
Ever Grateful, Ever True.
Boiler Up.
Hammer Down.
Hail Purdue

Long-time lurker here- but I have to respond to this one! I too signed up for an Ironman as my first triathlon. I had never swam the distance and had only "run" one marathon in a time of like over five hours (more like shuffled myself). For me though it was Ironman St. George in 2012. I got about 750 yards into the swim, was punched and kicked twice, and said the same thing-I'm never doing this again! That was before the waves even picked up... it took me over two hours to swim it, and it took me over 16 and a half to finish it- way, way underprepared...

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"There are two ways to slide easily through life- to believe everything and to doubt everything- both ways save us from thinking "- Korzbyski

1) Strapped my watch over my wetsuit sleeve. When I got to T1, it took me 15 seconds to figure out why I couldn't get my wetsuit off my right hand. Doh!
2) Ran the wrong direction to leave T2.
3) Left my bike in a high gear in T1.

I was 16 back in the early 80s when triathlon was just starting to take hold in Ontario - so there were not a lot of resources for a young kid trying to figure out equipment, etc.

A number of lessons learned way back when (in different races):

1. wore a surfing wetsuit - filled up like a garbage bag and pretty much ensured I couldn't swim properly because my arms were so constricted.

2. didn't have clipless pedals, so figured my tennis shoes had a stiffer sole than my runners, so took the time to change into tennis shoes in T1 and then into runners in T2.

3. didn't tie my shoes properly for the bike, so my lace came undone and kept winding around the pedal spindle from about 20k to the end (40k). Every few pedal strokes I would pedal backwards to unwind the lace. Not sure why I didn't stop to tie it up.

4. didn't know you were not supposed to draft. Got yelled at bad a few times before I figured it out.

5. a buddy had a very early generation wheel cover that he won at a race. Put it on his bike for the next race, put his bike on the roof of his car, and the cover promptly ripped off, never to be seen again as soon as we hit the highway.

6. didn't have much money so we used to "draft" (read: "tailgate within about 18 inches") transport trucks in my buddy's crappy compact car on the way to races - we thought we would save gas money and cancel out the drag of the bikes on the roof.

7. I bought some "U shaped" aerobars that clamped onto my road bars the day before an olympic triathlon, bolted them on the night before the race, rode around the block and then spent most of the next day's 40k bike leg in the "aero" position. Until then, I had never been in anything close to the aero position on a bike. Pretty sure I almost crashed numerous times, and my back was in knots for a few days afterward.

At last year's Deuces Wild oly in Show Low, AZ, swim was two loops. I knew that. But somehow, lulled by the feet in front of me, or just daydreaming about the post-race snacks, I just forgot. I ran up the boat ramp after only one loop, had my wetsuit stripped by volunteers, and as I was running up to T1, the race director, who knows me, gently queried, "Did you do both loops?" Oh crap. Now what? I looked at my soggy wetsuit and calculated I'd never get it on again, so handed it over to her, and hopped back into the chilly lake, cold and unbuoyant for the second loop. Nothing helps a swim like self-anger. Still managed to snag my (admittedly weak) AG, turbocharged with the mantra "How could you be so stupid?"

I've seen/heard "unthaw" many times, never "dethaw". It's just thaw. You're welcome.

Defreeze or unfreeze, but not febreeze, would also have been acceptable wording.

:> I was there too. So another dumbest thing was not realising that the current would be even faster around the turn buoy. I thought I got around it but didn't, and somehow managed to get walloped by it on the second attempt. It was like getting smacked around by the Pillsbury dough boy at the end of Ghostbusters.

dethaw
verb become or cause to become soft or liquid;From dictionary.com Y'all welcome...... Upon further research one website called it the illiterate form of thaw. Then again, if I'm not smart enough to make sure the liquid was drinkable before the bike portion, I'm probably not smart enough to use the word appropriate......

While perhaps unsafe and ill advised, this strategy probably did save you guys quite a bit of gas.

You've probably figured this out by now, but I usually set the barrel adjusters on the brakes at about 50% AND I leave a fair amount of distance between pad and rim at the same time. I don't have the same "right at the end of travel" feel that I generally like with brake levers, but those two adjustments in combination usually mean free running wheels even if I get an on-course pothole "adjustment."

My dumb thing wasn't during, but after. Loaded the bike on the roof rack after the Half-Full last year in MD, and started driving around the field looking for the exit. Took a wrong turn and drove under a low tree, WHILE my wife was saying "Watch out!!! You're bike's on the roof!" So I stopped on the other side of the tree (after having branch bath / bike adjustment #1) - then I put the car in reverse to "get back out from under" the tree, and re-branch-whipped the bike.

Fortunately they were small branches, only broke the fork at the dropouts on one side. As a reward for my stupidity, I replaced it with a new Easton Aero fork. Re-packing all of our gear into the back of the Prius and making two 10-year old boys share the 60 part of a 60/40 rear split seat "sobered" me up enough!

Racked the bike the day before the race. Winds were pretty strong. A buddy and I decided to use packing tape to secure our bikes on the rack. We were pretty generous with the use of tape. Let's just say, it was a long T1. Had to find scissors to cut the bike loose. Numb fingers didn't help either.

I came up behind a guy adjusting his helmet strap riding hands free swerving all over the place. He straightened out and was riding the yellow line so I decided I would pass him on the right and let him know as I approached. All he heard was "passing" and quickly swerved to the right and took me out.

Rules say pass on the left only for a reason I guess.

I entered my first triathlon last fall. It was my buddy's first triathlon as well. It was a well attended local sprint tri. We were full of excitement. At the end of the race, we racked both bikes on the back of his truck. While discussing the race, he proceeds to back directly into a brand new Porsche! All we heard was crunch. We got out to see that his bike was a little dinged and mine was unscathed. Unfortunately, the Porsche did not fare as well. I'll never forget him saying that of all cars he had to hit the most expensive one in the parking lot.

I can't believe that you joined in January of this year and Speed Concept wasn't already taken - well done.

twomarks

That is a great in put about brakes. Even if they are perfect at the start of a race, yep, one pot hole and I could be rubbing.

.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

First triathlon after a 14 year lay-off (having only done 1 before) was Eagleman in '06. First mistake of the day was staying about 30 minutes away and not accounting for traffic ...... with a 4 month old and my late wife ...... so barely made it into transition before it closed to set up my stuff and get my wetsuit on. Which I just did as they were closing transition.

That was the beginning of the pain.

Horrible swim, crawled out of the water and hobbled to bike - which has always been my forte - and hopped on and rode off. Keep in mind that calling E-Man flat is an insult to the word "flat." I could barely hold 20 mph when I fully expected to be in the 23 - 25 range for an average. F'ing sucked donkey balls. Around 45 miles or so you turn back toward town and it was at that point when the wind was at my back and no longer in my ears that I could hear it ........ my rear brake had been rubbing the whole gawddamn time! For 45 miles I was not only fighting the wind, but my own machine because I was in such a rush in the morning to get to my wave that I didn't check my gear like I always always always did before a ride. Reached back, quick adjusted it off the rim and it was like night and day! Flew back to transition.

But it was too late. Completely blew my wad fighting the brakes for so long. Ended up walking half the run and finished in 5:58 or something like that.

Payback? The next year I came back and rode a 2:23 and finished an hour faster overall than I did the first time I tried the race. Needless to say ..... I gave myself plenty of time to get to the race in the morning and triple checked my equipment before the start. ;)

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_____________________________________________
Rick, "Retired" hobbyist athlete
Trying to come back slowly from acute A-Fib

Put myself in a position where I was dropped by my coach. Midseason.

I used to buy a couple pair of identical running shoes when I found a make and model I liked. And once started to unpack my bag in transition for a sprint race only to discover that I'd brought only two right running shoe and had no left running shoe.

Fortunately my mom just happened to be down for the race, and our feet are about the same size, and I did the 5K in her moon boot-like walking shoes with no ill effect n my legs.

Came out of T2 with my trucker cap on backwards. Sooo embarrassing.

1) Strapped my watch over my wetsuit sleeve. When I got to T1, it took me 15 seconds to figure out why I couldn't get my wetsuit off my right hand. Doh!


AWESOME!!! I do that sometimes when training in the winter when putting my watch over my long sleeve shirts.

It was a very cold/rainy race day. Feet/toes were numb finishing bike leg of 70.3 and could barely feel my feet the first several miles of the run. Around mile 4 I stopped to re-adjust my shoe (which felt oddly uncomfortable) and realized I had a GU packet under the arch of my foot....fortunately it did not break and make a sticky mess.

Left my race number in T2. (In my defense, it moved somehow and then got covered up by a wetsuit. Out of sight out of mind.) Referee saw me just as I was about to run over the timing mat out of transition and I kid you not sent me back to go get it. I finished fourth. Missed the podium by a few seconds. Weeeeee!

Well... in my last swim workout I tightened my googles one [small] notch on the right hand strap. During my Oly tri yesterday the goggles leaked like a sieve from the start and I swim the 1500 essentially blind with lake water in my right eye. Really, really bad.

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Madison photographer Timothy Hughes | Instagram

I once put on my my bike shoe in T1 and then realized I still had my wetsuit on from the waist down. Took me a min to realize why something looked totally wrong... Whoops.

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-Alex

Funny thing, I did a few races in 2011 without goggles. It sucked but possible.

jaretj

First sprint I attempted to make aero bars for my mountain bike (fat tire category) but apparently only finger tightened the bars back on. One mile into bike leg my handle bars dropped down and I had to hold them up for the remaining ride. The mile 2 I dropped my water bottle and of course it stayed in the bike lane so I ran back and picked it up. Nothing more to do after that but cheer on everybody that passed me. Funny thing was I took first place since nobody else entered the category :)

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http://www.sfuelsgolonger.com

I was back home for a few days and a friend and I decided to do a tri. He had just bought a new bike so let me use his old one which was still twice better than mine. We left at 4am flying on the motorway trying to make the race registration time (long drive). 15 mins from the race site another friend in the back seat nervously taps me to tell me there is only 1 bike on the rack. His 'old' bike had fallen off somewhere. We couldn't find it after a quick search so went to the race anyway. Must have been with at least £1000. I managed to borrow a beater mountain bike and started the bike portion of the race on it. After an eternity I came back to transition exhausted and with sore knees only to learn it was a two lap course and I was just going really slow. Only time I can remember giving up in a race.

Hopefully someone gave the bike a good home before it got rusty....

Awesome flying dismount off the bike into a nice run entering T2. I was THE MAN...until i realized, after racking my bike, that my bike shoes were no longer clipped in. I had to run back to the Bike In and look for my shoes that had been thrown to the side. Face palm! I still perform this move today, only now i keep an eye on the shoes.

Finally, filing this under "we told you not to try anything new on race day", decided to shave a few seconds in T2 and run sock-less for the first time ever ever. Fucking crying by mile 3.

Finally finally, do not, i repeat do not eat a chicken ranch melt with double meat from subway the night before a race.

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It's not about what you've done, it's about what you're doing!
@trecca17

Great thread - first time I've posted in months

My two favorite stories:
* In my first ocean tri (Santa Cruz Tri ~'95 ) I figured I needed a wet suit I picked up the cheapest wetsuit I could find at Big 5 - a sleeveless surfer suit. Of course I never practiced taking it off, and I rolled around in T1 like a dog with his head stuck in a peanut-butter jar for several minutes.

* In my first X-terra, I decided for some reason that would run (or maybe swim?) better with a plain Lycra pair of tights, no chamois. My scranus did not do well over 15 miles of rocky east coast singletrack...

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" I take my gear out of my car and put my bike together. Tourists and locals are watching from sidewalk cafes. Non-racers. The emptiness of of their lives shocks me. "
(opening lines from Tim Krabbe's The Rider , 1978

I took my roadbike with road pedals to a local sprint tri...... when I got to T1 I realised I'd packed my MTB shoes with MTB cleats. They don't match too well, so rode with my runners slip sliding all over the pedals.

You all are a bunch of clowns LOL

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http://RoadID.com/...te/4HC4V-TAFQ9XPJDTX

First Muncie Endurathon 1994; like a DA I decided to switch my back wheel that had worked perfectly over 11 rides of the whole course in under 2:40 PR for an untested and non-fitting disc wheel in a 20-25mph head wind the whole race. Dropped the chain twice going up hill and landed on my ass/pride. 3:09 later the run was ugly.Ugly. UGLY.

Learned a whole lot of life lessons in that one day.

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STIndiana
America Multi-Sport, Inc.
America's Half June 10, 2017
USAT RD Century Club
http://www.americamultisport.com

Hahah! Ok, I feel slightly better for that.

I had a front row seat for a fight at the turn buoy. Someone from the wave ahead of me (WTF did they do wrong?) had the inside line. Someone from the wave behind me came hurtling up and wanted that line. At the apex the slow guy seemed to have the fast guy in a necklock, with no sign of either of them swimming... So I suppose things could have been worse for both of us!

I feel ya... I was having an epic race in the NYC Triathlon last year when some slow girl was riding on the left after passing... I yell out, "On your left!" and she swerves to her left, taking me out. (Not at all happy about it being the first crash in my bike.) Because my GPS wasn't working, I suspect this was around like 14 of the bike... So, the last 12 miles of the bike, my front brakes were rubbing on my wheel... I didn't think to check and make sure that they weren't... I thought the rest of the ride was hard because of the crash and bleeding, but nope... It was because I was working doubly hard with the brakes. *Facepalm* (This year... This year I WILL have redemption!!!)

I did this with my skin suit at Vegas Worlds last year, but got part way to bike out before I figured it out. I guess the long run from the water in the mud and the torrential rain (and excitement of racing Worlds) distracted me. Had to run the bike back about 40 meters to my T1 spot and take it off. Cost me at least 80- 90 seconds. Ugh.

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Rock Chalk!

Well, I must say that the psychological altered state in triathlon
now widely accepted by most international psychiatric associations
(only PENDING in Iceland)
known as "Race Brain" is a veritable infectious virus amongt Slowtwitch athletes.
I have found, at last, my family!

(p.s. if you are at all like me...picture "chicken with head cut off"...when Race Brain hits...there is NO known cure other than laughter)

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I'll see you in the run

The most obvious one was leaving T2 with my bike helmet. I was well out of T2 when somebody pointed it out. I took it off and handed it to a spectator. Magically I got the helmet back. The less obvious was my nutritional plan during my last HIM. I'm surprised I didn't have a heart-attack from all the salt I took in.

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The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.

You should have a talk with Hydrosloth. He has the unique ability to re-ingest his OWN sweat through his EYES while popping salt pills through his MOUTH.
Then, post-race, he scrapes the residue off his face and saves for the next race. Thus, super ultra concentrated salt full of his own hormones. It's magic!

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I'll see you in the run

Sprint last summer, I'm first out on the bike directly behind the lead police car. It is out and back along pretty much one main road however towards the end kicks a block over so that traffic leaving and entering transition is all going counter clockwise not head on (well those of us out front did end up dealing with dismounting as people mounted which was annoying). I got passed on the bike (different AG so didn't care much) right before the turn around and at some point on the main road put my head down just cranking away. When I looked up the person in front of me and the lead car were gone. I know the course kicked to the right to take us a block over but didn't know where. I come up on a barrier in the road only blocking the return side not the outside so I figure this is the turn. I yell to a women standing on the corner straight or right? She points right.. I turn right and it was NOT where you were supposed to turn right. Instead of back tracking I continue down that road, end up on a very busy street go down that then turn left on the next block and right back into the race.. I'm now in third for my AG :( Those two people can't have been too far behind me and must have been cracking up when they saw me turn.

I fully understand it was my fault and I should have known the course, didn't think I'd be leading the whole race, but was really annoyed that they had a road block up but you were supposed to go straight down that road.

First triathlon...an Xterra offroad.
Second to last out of water, kind of out of whack, and jump on MTB. Almost a quarter mile into the bike course when I hear, "You need a helmet!" I had to go back to T1 and put on my helmet....

I spewed water on my keyboard at "scranus". Thank you. I can't wait to drop that one on my wife. The word, that is.

My neck at Alcatraz and I did use body glide: FLICKR Photo

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The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.

First time I raced with a swim skin I pulled it down to my waist after running out of the water, but forgot to pull it all the way off at my transition spot and rode the 40k bike with it on. Actually wasn't that bad. Wasn't hot or uncomfortable...just a little unaero. Not flapping in the wind...just sort of like I was wearing a fanny pack.

First triathlon: Coming out of T1, I took the shortest route to get out, which happened to be through a sand volleyball court. Well sand and speedplay cleats don't play nicely. Spent 3+ miles pedaling with one leg until I could finally get the other foot clipped in. Next year, I made sure to steer way clear of the volleyball court and had the same damn thing happen again (but only for a mile this time). Third year I just carried my damn shoes to the mount line.

Ouch, saltwater does chafe like a mofo. All the sighting at Alcatraz doesn't help matters.

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

1) Wasn't paying attention to bike course markings and went 3 miles the wrong way before I started wondering why no one was around me anymore.
2) Turned right instead of left out of T2 and crossed the finish line. People were cheering for me because I just won the race. Pretty embarassing when I had to turn around and run out the other way.
3) Times were posted and it says that I won. I didn't have a watch or any way of knowing what my time was so I was like "Sweeeet, I won" went up to the podium and grabbed my trophy. Come to find out a few minutes later that they had missed my entire run time.
4) Tried to put on my tri top after the swim.

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Instagram or twitter me softly @xatefrogg

When I was on the bike I was like "You dumb a$$" and laughed about it.

You're lucky you weren't DQ'd for that.

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The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.

Hah wore the new Tyr goggles on the bike too. They are that comfie ;0)

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Official Polar Ambassador
http://www.google.com/...P7RiWyEVwpunlsc2JtQQ

Its called "trickle-thru economics"

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http://www.fitspeek.com the Fraser Valley's fitness, wellness, and endurance sports podcast

Thought of another one. Rode to a duathlon race and at T1 realised I had misplaced my bicycle helmet. Ran around an eventually borrowed a huge one with flowers on me that didn't fit either my head or my style. Managed to do the race.

When I got home I realised my helmet was there and I had simply rode to the race without one thinking I had it on. Dumbass

At least you didn't ride there just thinking you were on your bike. That could have been a sign of worse things.

Had a dietary breakdown and ate potato chips and beer 4 days before my very first sprint triathlon. In other words i'm eating beer and potato chips at this very moment.

The dumbest/stupidest thing I ever did was due to me trying to not be forgetful. It all started the night before. I normally fill my water bottles and add all my mix the night before a race and store them in the fridge. Well, I had an olympic tri where I decided to sleep in a hotel just so I didn't have to wake up even earlier to drive. I forgot to bring water and didn't want to use the sink to fill my bottles, so instead I just put my mix (EFS/Carbo Pro) into all my bottles and put them in the cages on my bike. Long story short, I completely forgot to put water into my bottles when I got transition in the morning and didn't realize it until about a mile into the ride. I went the whole 30 miles with ZERO and I mean zero water and water/mix(no bike course aid stations). Rolled into T2 like i just survived the Sahara Desert and was screaming for water. Fun times.

haha, well, they probably looked at my brown tshirt, umbro soccer shorts, and all around newbie setup and probably felt pity for me...

For a sprint, you really don't need to carb load....You still have time to offset that by eating fruit today. I'd go for the strawberry cheesecake or cherry pie. Guessing your seat is too high but don't change it the week before your 1st sprint. :-)

This past w/e at MT...forgot my gels for the run and then didn't take any of the 100 I was offered by the volunteers (they were fantastic)..basically no nutrition on the run...what a jack a$$.

Which dumbest thing would you like to hear? I did a few of them over the years. Here's some of my favs.

1) at my first ever tri I showed up with a 7 mm scuba suit after being told that triathletes swim faster in wetsuits.

2) forgot to fill my water bottles on the bike one time.

3) did the entire race with my speedo on inside out. Didn't realize it until the race was over when all my friends were laughing at me..

4) ran out of T2 with my helmet on

5) Did a TT one time and forgot to wear my timing chip

6) Couldn't remember where my bike was parked at T1. Lost several minutes on that blunder.

My first tri was an Xterra as well.

Flew in the night before to my GF's... on race day I forgot my goggles and helmet, but was incredibly lucky to find people willing to lend spares.

I also rode the course on her hybrid... arms felt like jelly by the time I hit T2.

And of course it was my first open water swim -- sprinted out the first 150 or so only to get stampeded by the rest of the field and reduced to breastroke/intense fear of drowning.

Forgot to mention that her bike didn't have any cages on it, but for some reason I wasn't concerned about on-course hydration... I remember seeing a dropped bottle on the course and considering stopping to pick it up and take a swig.

I've done more than a bucketful of dumb things in many years of racing, so I'd like to add a third Honourable Mention...

deciding back when "drink 8 glasses of water a day" was all the rage...to drink 8 when I got up in the morning before a Half-Iron.
It was freaking cold to start with, and I swear I peed four or five times on the bike. Nothing in the swim. Just the bike.
It just kept coming and coming and coming.
Ended up with a fantastic run that day, but the bike was wickedly mediocre, probably from all the extra "water" I was carrying!

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I'll see you in the run

1. Showed up to my first tri 5 minutes before transition closed
2. Doing my first tri on a mountain bike
3. Attempting to do an oly with no bike/run training (I finished!)
4. Trying to do a flying bike mount on my second tri this year w/o practicing it beforehand (it worked at the first tri this year so it must work again)
   

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It's easy to make excuses, but excuses don't make champions.

First ever tri was just under 2 years ago, a HIM, and I decided that the run with no socks was worth it to save some T2 time. Wasn't enjoying that decision by the end


70.3 World Champs in Vegas last year I wore a brand new swim-skin I'd never even tried on before. It was so tight across the chest I couldn't breathe properly, and thus my swim sucked even more than normal

Very few people escaped without a decent wetsuit hickie at IM SA this year!

Cheers, Rich