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"Changing Gears"...triathlete to cyclist
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Probably won't be posting here quite as much. I have decided to put triathlon to the side for a while. Running injuries have plagued me since starting this sport in 2004. I'm going to give road cycling a shot for a while to see where I can get in that sport. Triathlon is so much fun, and it pains me (literally) not to continue, but it is just too frustrated being injured all of the time. Some of us were not quite cut out to be runners, and my body constantly reminds me of that. I LOVE the intensity, strategy, and pain associated with bicycle racing.

I'm sure I won't go away completely, its likely I will go the way of Roady, Cousin Elwood, Gary Tingley, and Sojourner; I hope to share exciting cycling tips and stories.

Of course I will always be happy to throw my 2 cents in regarding swimming tips.

Flanagan
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Re: "Changing Gears"...triathlete to cyclist [Flanagan] [ In reply to ]
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Did the same thing and have not regreted it one bit. Now that I got my Cat 2 license, I love being able to race with some of the best in North America, pretty much every weekend of the year.
A lot higher level of competiveness and fitness in cycling than in triathlon.
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Re: "Changing Gears"...triathlete to cyclist [Flanagan] [ In reply to ]
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Best of luck to you. I gave up mass start road cycling while I still had all my skin intact.

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"Go yell at an M&M"
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Re: "Changing Gears"...triathlete to cyclist [ancientdude] [ In reply to ]
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Man, what is this supposed to mean?
"A lot higher level of competiveness and fitness in cycling than in triathlon."

Dave


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
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Re: "Changing Gears"...triathlete to cyclist [Martin C] [ In reply to ]
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Good luck! It's no fun when you are hurt all the time. Maybe you can come back to Tri's later.
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Re: "Changing Gears"...triathlete to cyclist [Flanagan] [ In reply to ]
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Good for you! However, have in mind you are going to have a lot of crit-related injuries to replace your running pains. Road racers are animals.
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Re: "Changing Gears"...triathlete to cyclist [Flanagan] [ In reply to ]
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welcome to the dark side,
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Re: "Changing Gears"...triathlete to cyclist [h2ofun] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
Man, what is this supposed to mean?
"A lot higher level of competiveness and fitness in cycling than in triathlon."

Dave
Go to a bike road race, and compare the physiques you see (think "lean and mean") to those you see prior to a triathlon swim (think "elephant seal"). You see very few non-serious bike racers compared to triathletes.

----------------------------------
"Go yell at an M&M"
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Re: "Changing Gears"...triathlete to cyclist [toolguy] [ In reply to ]
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See you on bikeforums.net

We're going to yell at you before droping the hamer with our massive guads and dialing it up to 400W.

:)
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Re: "Changing Gears"...triathlete to cyclist [klehner] [ In reply to ]
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Man, I will not even go down this road. And I thought Triathletes were accused of being eliteist.

Guess it all depends on what kind of race you do, in any sport!!

Dave

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
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Re: "Changing Gears"...triathlete to cyclist [Flak] [ In reply to ]
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i did put in 16 min at 390 NP / 372 AP last week, so i welcome the 400 watt challenge ;)
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Re: "Changing Gears"...triathlete to cyclist [h2ofun] [ In reply to ]
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In Reply To:
Man, what is this supposed to mean?
"A lot higher level of competiveness and fitness in cycling than in triathlon."

Dave
Road racing unlike triathlon or road running (or even mountain biking) is not a participatory sport because if you can't keep up, you quickly realize that you're wasting your money and time going to races. So there is a natural selection that occurs to eliminate the "weak" from the pool of participants.
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Re: "Changing Gears"...triathlete to cyclist [klehner] [ In reply to ]
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true. but you know why? because cycle racing has gone to great lengths to make sure that there is absolutely nothing in it for the also-rans, or as dev put it to me so tactfully, the "cannon fodder". thats why the biggest bike races in the US, even the "open" ones, get a fraction of the attendance of a mid-level triathlon. thats why bike stores sell more bikes to people who want to race tris than people wanting to race bicycles (well, many of them do). thats why masters swim classes are full of triathlon swimmers grappling with hydrodynamics.

you can take your "lean & mean" physiques and stuff them down the seat tube of a willier or pinnarello. i'd take the happiness and joy i saw volunteering for the phila. women's tri yesterday over the pain, controversy and exclusion of bike racing any day. its not like the best people don't manage to put out killer performances in triathlon - this sport has evolved ways to get the elite and the age groupers to happily (more or less) co-habit. cycling, like track & field and several others, has failed miserably at this.

for ever cat4'er who's happy stuck in that category for 3 years, there are a hundred triathlon age groupers, elephant seals if you will, enjoying triathlon as a similar interlude in their life.
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Re: "Changing Gears"...triathlete to cyclist [Wayne666] [ In reply to ]
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You may be "right", but not a sport I would be proud of having this reputation. I enjoy sports who try to be
"inclusive" since anything we can do to help folks improve their health and self esteem is good for our country.

Dave

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
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Re: "Changing Gears"...triathlete to cyclist [Flanagan] [ In reply to ]
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Before you go tell me the secret to swimming with your back not you shoulders. Are there any dry land stuff I can do to improve my ability to pull with the lats not with the shoulders.
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Re: "Changing Gears"...triathlete to cyclist [Flanagan] [ In reply to ]
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I dunno...you'll be back. I couldn't stay away. I just started running more and my cycling has only suffered. arrrghhhh.....

Just as many triathletes are turning to road, many roadies are turning to triathlon.....with great results. My 2 cents is to fully embrace cycling, not just road. There is far more "bitching and whining" in road racing than triathlon. In triathlon, it just happens on the message board, in road racing...it happens during the race.

Here's a nice story to share about an elite cycling turned trigeek....turned into a terrible story....turned into something pretty damn cool/motivational.

http://tcmultisportsclub.com/Jeremy.htm
http://www.jeremysartain.com/
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Re: "Changing Gears"...triathlete to cyclist [Flanagan] [ In reply to ]
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it pains me (literally) not to continue, but it is just too frustrated being injured all of the time. Some of us were not quite cut out to be runners, and my body constantly reminds me of that.


IIRC, you're pretty much anti strength-training.

ahhhh..... nevermind.


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Re: "Changing Gears"...triathlete to cyclist [Flak] [ In reply to ]
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so are you the famous 400 watt guy?
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Re: "Changing Gears"...triathlete to cyclist [Flanagan] [ In reply to ]
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I sold my tri bike 2 weeks ago. I'm focusing on cx for this year (with a smidge of mountain, not racing yet). Next year maybe some road races. Cycling is more social for me. I enjoy the camraderie of being part of a team and part of the cycling community in general (especially cx).

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Awww, Katy's not all THAT evil. Only slightly evil. In a good way. - JasoninHalifax

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Re: "Changing Gears"...triathlete to cyclist [dawhead] [ In reply to ]
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Poor guy. He supports a position and everyone piles on.

I think bike stores sell most bikes to people who want to ride bikes.

I am OK with your position when you look at the actual races. However, cycle racing teams/clubs are far from elitist in many cases, when you consider that they have very large groups that ride every weekend and many times per week. For every stuck Cat 4 there may be 100 social riders, in the same club, that go out and do a 60+ mile ride who may never enter a race but are given the option because guys/gals that like to race formed a club, help bring people to the sport, etc... I would hate for someone to read your post and think that cycling clubs with race teams are a bunch of fit, arrogant SoB's that are to be avoided just because they are involved in racing.



I miss you "Sports Night"
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Re: "Changing Gears"...triathlete to cyclist [Quo Vadimus] [ In reply to ]
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with all due respect, i don't think flanagan was talking about joining a cycling club. he was talking about shifting his focus to cycle racing.

yes, recreational cycling is whole different ball of wax, and unlike triathlon training (mostly), it can actually work as a social event, which is pretty nice. the cycling clubs i know are generally filled with people with a love of cycling in all its forms, and seem to have racers as a minority, making any attitude that racers may or may not have mostly irrelevant. to be honest though, as individuals, even the road racers i know are not arrogant SoB's ... its only when you put them in a pack in a race that the attitude shows up. i could name a dozen local racers that i'd never want to race against (yeah, ok, so its partly because they'd all kick my ass out of the solar system), yet individually they are great people to hang out with and who love cycling in many different ways. and for myself, as much as i might currently be pursuing the holy grail of a 300W FTP/CP60, i would have to say that bike touring/camping has bought me more joy than almost any type of racing (with 1 possible exception).
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Re: "Changing Gears"...triathlete to cyclist [dawhead] [ In reply to ]
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Wow, like I slapped your kids or something. I wasn't defending bike racing or anything like that. It is just a fact that bike racing sees a far higher percentage of fit people than does triathlon. Chill out. You sound like a bike racer.

Oh, it's called "pack fodder". Been there, done that.

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"Go yell at an M&M"
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Re: "Changing Gears"...triathlete to cyclist [klehner] [ In reply to ]
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I am surprised people jumped dowwn Ken's throat. Cycle racing is more elitist and intense. Ken did not say that made it better or worse than tri. It is just different. I have done both (for the same reason that Flannagan is switching) and really don't like road racing. It does not suit my slowtwitch self. I also did not like that the strongest guy rarely wins a road race while in running and tri the strongest guy usually wins. They are just different sports.

JW (on the comback trail)
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Re: "Changing Gears"...triathlete to cyclist [klehner] [ In reply to ]
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its amazing how many people get their panties in a bunch when they hear that triathlon is not the most competitive sport in the world. one of the coolest things about road cycling (at least in the mid-atlantic) is that i can race locally and get my but whipped by an assortment of different people on pretty much any given day...hopefully that will change, but at least for now that is the case. triathlon means higher entry fees, travelling all over the place to get other good AG competition, and it beats me up. i fully understand the risks of the peloton. im an agressive guy, and i enjoy attempting to initiate breakaways. attacking a often is a good way to boost fitness, and it is great way not to spend as much time in the main pack, which is insurance for my precious irish skin.

in an email with dev, i shared that i will likely return to tris. i just can't have the carrot of a short term race in front of me. i run too hard in training if i do that. he suggested running super easy for 30 minutes per day for about a year. im pretty sure i can manage that on top of cycling. so some point down the road i will probably just jump back into a tri. if i don't HAVE to train hard for any specific runs, then i will have no problem going out and just cruising along easily sans HRM, sans watch, just having fun and developing my muscular support system to aid in injury prevention down the road a bit :)

i love competition, and i just can't imagine being away from competition entirely while i learn to run. i think it is awesome that i can race against guys who are better than me week-in week-out without ever getting on an airplane. that is harder to do in triathlon. to be the best, one has to train and race with the best. i suggest more people should really try to ride a bike like the good roadies do. those guys are friggin studs, and the coolest part is they are everywhere.
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