Andrew, myself, and a bunch of other poor souls raced in Chattanooga last weekend and I had the pleasure to get to know him briefly on the way to the start. Just thought I’d share.

I saw Jim L and Andrew walking to the bus for the start as we were a bit late to get going. Once we got on the 1000 degree school transport, I introduced myself and asked him a few questions. We may have met in lake placid, but this was my first time really talking to him.

My immediate reaction to Andrew was that he is a completely genuine guy. We talked about the differences between large stage races, bike racing in general, training for the sport of cycling vs triathlon, and about his real love for a new sport in triathlon. He seemed to really embrace the challenge and was eager to push and see where he could get in the sport. I just found Andrew to be a really cool and nice guy. He is racing triathlon for all the right reasons.

He was out of the water a few seconds ahead of me last Sunday, then I didn’t see him again until mile ten of the run. Out of the 23 ironmans I’ve finished in my life (I’ve done a ton of very hot ones), this was the hardest by far. To see him stick it out and finish it just made me an even bigger fan. I was 99 percent sure I’d DNF when I got to mile four of the run. It was dangerous out there.

I have no doubt that he will progress and get towards the top of the sport in the next few years. It was awesome to finally talk with him.

No real point to this post except to say that I am a fan of the guy and wish him the best.

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