Robert, your kids are impressive, to say the least. I hope they feel better, but it sounds to me like they could win this race blindfolded.

Out of curiosity, though, I have a question. When they're on their bikes (congratulations on Kiersten's sponsorship, by the way, that's just amazing), do they use clipless pedals and aerobars and the whole 9 yards? And how often do you need to have their fit changed?

I wish your whole family the best of luck, especially the kids.

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http://www.theninjadon.blogspot.com

"The bicycle riders drank much wine, and were burned and browned by the sun. They did not take the race seriously except among themselves." -- Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises

Well... you'd be amazed. Starting at the 9-year-old age group, they're riding little versions of what adults ride, i.e. road or tri-bikes with carbon wheels, etc. My philosophy with my kids is to keep it as simple as possible. My 6-year-old rides a little custom frame with a 73 degree seattube and 24" wheels and because his hands aren't strong enough for STI's he uses a straight bar with gripshifts. My 9-year-old daughter rides a frame with a 76 degree seattube, drop bars and a rear STI shifter. I set the gearing so that neither have to use the front derailleur. No clips, just plain old platform pedals. They transistion faster and are pedalling away on their bikes faster than any other kids and they come in and run off. What they might lose in power they gain in simplicity and time. It works... she's never out of the pool in first, but she's ALWAYS first off the bike. It's pretty amazing to watch these kids in action.

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http://irondad06.blogspot.com/

http://irondad.blogspot.com/

Robet I don't mean to be a troll but that's plain stupid to equippe your kids like that. What are they gonna have to look forward to when they grow up? 'Oh I already have HED wheels since I was 7'. Part of the fun of the sport is getting new stuff with time, as you improve.

And 7-yo shouldn't be riding Colnagos. You just wait til another 7-yo on a mountain bike comes whizzing by him, then see how he feels.

And btw the distances are way too short to justify that kind of equipment. I race sprint distance (i'm 15), and we have kids who go 58:00-1:01 who ride Giant's with 105 and race with speedo's and a top.

Nice post Freebase... except a few things (and the grammar, too, I guess) ... it's my 9-YEAR-OLD who is the 2002 NATIONAL CHAMPION and just set the ALL TIME record for 9-YEAR-OLDS, hits 27mph on the bike course, who is seeded NUMBER ONE for this years national championships and was featured in Triathlete Magazine in December, gets passed by NO ONE, mountain bike, road bike, (and probably not by your "kids on Giants" with "Speedo's") ... she is the one who rides the Colnago.. not my 6-year-old (I don't have a 7-year-old)... although he too OUTSPLITS EVERYONE in his age group, hits 25mph, is PASSED BY NO ONE, and is seeded NUMBER TWO in the NATION... so not much room to improve, I guess, huh? OH... by the way... Lance Armstrong, Hunter Kemper and many other famous and infamous athletes raced in the IronKids series, won the national championships, on "that kind of equipment" none the less.

What are my kids going to look forward to? Hmmm... well, their bikes are teenie... bigger bikes?

Anyone who rides expensive equipment slowly looks silly... no doubt. My daughter won the state championships last year on a 30 pound mountain bike and won the national championships on a lighter converted mountain bike with slicks setting the fastest bike split in the history of the series in her age group ... by doing that SHE EARNED her sponsorship which was offered to her. What's for her to look forward to? Well, if you ask her... she'll tell you the US Cycling team and the Olympics. But... if she doesn't make it, she'll do well because she's a straight-A honor student with EXCELLENT GRAMMAR.

Interesting theory about distance dictating the quality of the equipment. It seems to me, however, that I see more expensive equipment on sprint races than I do IronMan's. Funny, huh?

Oh... and the HED wheels... Anne and Steve Hed, two extremely good people, built them for my son... I guess next time I should say "NO", huh?

Giant's with 105's are darn nice bikes for 15-year-olds... shoot, that's nice for regular adults. Those kids don't have much to look forward to either, do they?

HOW old are you? Oh... 15. Aah... ignorance is bliss. Hmmm... but you're old enough to know more about etiquette. You'll also learn when you are older that there are just some areas that you show a little respect... like not insulting someone's children. I'm sure your father would say the same thing... don't mess with my kids!

Yes... you pushed my button... I am a father and I love my children.

By the way... I wanted to send this to you in a personal email, but you chose not to list your email address, so here you are.

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http://irondad06.blogspot.com/

http://irondad.blogspot.com/

hey ironkid dad. congratulations on your kid's efforts. my kids also race bikes and tri's, tho they have not done any "ironkids" races - i don't think there are any around here. i am just curious, what sort of splits are your young national champions doing? avg bike mph, pace on run, etc ?? just wonderin....... thanx.

Easy tiger!

This guy is only a kid too, which would mean you are 'messing with' someone's kid via your invective.

Hope you're not living vacariously.

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"Language most shows a man: Speak, that I may see thee. It springs out of the most retired and inmost parts of us, and is the image of the parents of it, the mind. No glass so mirrors a man's form or likeness so true as his speech." - Ben Jonson, Timber, or Discoveries made upon Men and Matter.

is this what these kids are doing?

http://www.coolrunning.com/...ep3_IronKi_set2.html

are those "rates" correct? looks like some pretty fast little runners in there, but the bike times are less so. 12 and 13 mph? for the 10-14 y/o's ? do not get me wrong - it is all good, love to see it. but, for example, my 12 y/o girl this summer did the danskin with her mom and went 18 mph (avg) over the adult sprint distance. she can hang fine in local group rides sucking wheel and avging 20 - 22 mph. she is a good little rider, but hardly the stuff of a national championship calibre due to her having half of my pitiful genes, if nothing else :). is this right? again, no disrespect - just wonderin...............

I love hearing about the kids. Keep it coming! My grandKids do horse shows . They have nice equipment and it's also a great family sport/trip/relationship

while we're waiting for irondad to get back, i thought i might chime in, as a family guy with kids who ride and race bikes. . . .mostly mtn bikes. a couple points:

first, let us face it, there is something that makes a fellow say " say what?!" when you first hear of a mini colnago with carbon wheels. not saying it is good nor bad, justified or not, just sayin, it raises an eyebrow.

and yet, i wonder if this is simply a tri-thing, this equipment issue. as i say, my kids race mt bikes. now then, you see all manner of gear at the races under these kids. al the way from ratty walmart rigs to full on modern day wonder bikes like epic's and whatnot. oddly, nobody makes a fuss. indeed, mt biking in general is like this - if you have a nice bike people will just say " yo, nice bike.". nobody evaluates whether or not you are "good" enuf to warrant the thing, they just dig it for its own right. why is tri so much the opposite, i wonder?

for example, my girl rides a very swank little ibis. truly, it is a bike that will stop traffic in downtown moab - arguably one of the very best bikes ever made - a piece 'de art. it has a set of ti spoked CK hubbed wheels, swank parts, etc etc. and yet we are not living viacariously thru her - in fact it is an old hand me down bike from pre-susp days that my wife had basically unridden laying around. we threw it back together and spruced it up and now it rocks most heavily. the fancy wheels are my old ones and i gave them to the girl to use since i am racing a singlespeed these days and wasn't really using them anyway - why not? so, you just never do know.

finally, consider the fine lessons a young rider can learn from some of the opportunities of even a limited sponsorship such as the ironkid seems to have earned. first off - and to our 15 y/0 rider above - are you conducting yourself at the races in a manner which makes you look attractive as a spokesperson for any manu? as a 10 y/o my girl was a member of a sponsored team of girls, and they were the bells of the ball at the tri's they did, promoting themselves and their sponsor in a bright sunny manner. it is about respect, and positive attitude, and realizing that you are NOT the star, but the sport and event and all is bigger than you and you are a part of it. my kid's mt bike team careslittle about results, and a lot about how they act, the goals and follow thru they display, and the manner in which they show positive affiliation and sportsmanship. i am going to guess the young colnago rider is a bubbly efferverscent (sp) bright spot at the races, and this is why mr hed thought it would be a good idea to build her some wheels. it is easy to sit back and prejudge the irondad as "living vicariously" or whatever - but consider what sort of fine life lessons he may be imparting to his kids. this sort of effort is more subtle. and, like many or most of a dad's efforts largely unseen or underscored or even thankless ( for now). judge not, till you have been there yerself, say i.

t-t-n : wasn't judging, just posing a question that occurred to me after his response to the 15 yr old.

I don't want Irondad, or anyone else, down my throat for imagined slights against their family, beliefs, political alignment, groupset, nationality, favourite colour...

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"Language most shows a man: Speak, that I may see thee. It springs out of the most retired and inmost parts of us, and is the image of the parents of it, the mind. No glass so mirrors a man's form or likeness so true as his speech." - Ben Jonson, Timber, or Discoveries made upon Men and Matter.

indeed GJB. twas a tad bit over the top as a responce to a 15 y/o, i grant you. certainly a barrage like that to a 15 y/o in person would never have happened - perhaps we can blame the ethernet medium? :). it is a touchy subject, no? i hope some of the points i raised were not so heated.

Fear not, your points were nothing but pertinent. I too blame the ethernet and computers for most of the world's ills including, amongst other things - cold weather, bad movies, hairy ladies and expensive beer.

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"Language most shows a man: Speak, that I may see thee. It springs out of the most retired and inmost parts of us, and is the image of the parents of it, the mind. No glass so mirrors a man's form or likeness so true as his speech." - Ben Jonson, Timber, or Discoveries made upon Men and Matter.

My heart-felt congratulations to your talented kids, Robert. Talented as they are, IMO you don't need to be so defensive of them; especially to someone who's just another kid. Was a bit harsh considering the source. But conrgats and good luck again.

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Most people don't recognize opportunity because it wears bib overalls and looks like work.
~Teddy Roosevelt