As a 25 y/o, the gross over-generalizations of millennials kill me. Though it may be true that millennials are generally more aware and conscious of these issues, that doesn't make us all social justice warriors. Neither myself nor anyone in my social circle is as extreme as the pictures painted of us in this thread... I'm a competitive AG'er and show up to local races with a good showing of other competitive 25-29 year olds. I'm more inclined to support local races (sprint, Oly, Half) than shell out $500 for an IM branded 70.3 with an overcrowded bike course. But I can promise you that as one of the largest generations head count wise, we are far more diverse than the mainstream media portrays us to be...

It's awful what's done to each generation. When I was young, we had nuclear bomb drills and a nuclear clock. The world was going to end due to overpopulation. Gasoline and food was supposed to be long gone by now. Y2K.

And Documentaries like the one below don't help alleviate this worry. Humans do continue to press on no matter how much stress we cause the planet with our endless wars, consumption, overpopulation, environmental destruction, etc. Maybe the end is nearing for us sooner than we want to believe. I hope not. I still have many bucket list races :-)

10 Billion
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV5xiRKw5f4

M33 here, started when I was M28 in the sport, about to drop out of the sport pretty soon...so I feel qualified to comment - these are my top-10 BROAD generalizations as I've seen it

1) Sport is really good for when you're either (1) single or (2) deeply involved in a relationship with established parenting routines. When you're actively dating / starting out / etc. It can be consuming. Hence why maybe 28-35ers are focused on family planning and cannot / will not allocate 8-15+ hours a week to triathlon. If you have an 8 and 12 year old who spends 2 hours a day at soccer, you probably can be efficient an workout alongside them. An 8 month old is still trying to breathe right.
2) The younger AG <25 is focused on getting careers in order, finding new social circles - and probably not willing to spend $1,000 for an IM weekend (I was not)
3) Sunday races suck, and Saturday bike check-in is a joke. Nobody wants to spend the weekend bothering yourself and your family with proper hydration, nutition, etc. and rest when you're potentially visiting a new place. All to get your "nutrition" locked in for a 23rd OA place or something like that. Then its Sunday at 11am and its time to go home, and go to work. We need more Saturday morning races (where you check in saturday). This is why I only do Saturday races with packet pick up the morning of the race.
4) Running is cool again. Its very cool. Trail running is all the rage. And you can run 7 hours a week and get very good. Oh, and you can workout once a day (or maybe just 8-10x a week). Triathlon can't compete with that. Want to stay fit, feel like an athlete and have a life? Run.
5) Working out twice a day every day is really draining and selfish. Younger generations like to socialize a bit more. Balance perhaps? Grind out a 1 hour workout in the morning and have the day free.
6) People are freaking out about biking on public roads. I see it more and more than even 6 years ago. And before you try, the trainer is uber boring and not a substitute to a 6am sunrise bike ride.
7) Younger folks can afford triathlon, but they prefer to travel. Where you've been is the Happy Hour brag vs. what you've done. Most <40s are thinking about the next weekend trip to Europe, not planning their 23 hour training weekend.
8) Drinking is really accessible and "trendy". Wine, micro brews, etc. Not a healthy hobby (or something I advocate), but it creates a lot more distractions (Hey Teddy, wanna go check out "Local Brewery XYZ", vs. "Hey Teddy, how about we smash some FTP intervals for 45 min?") The former happens more.
9) Young people either (1) really get into tris and kick ass or (2) are one and dones. You older folks love to grind out in the sport and be slow as F. I don't see that trend with 30 year olds as they do not appreciate just being there (and hence why old AGs grind it out).
10) Only had 9.

Sport won't die and when you're at the next IM branded race you'll feel like its the center of the world with 2,500 people there. So who cares? Its still fun (if you're into it, and probably old).

The spirit of your reply is spot on. Do something productive and then enjoy the day.

This is exactly how I feel about 70.3. It's still a hard day. But 4.5-5 hours later and I'm hanging out with my family again and drinking a beer.

vs

"ok, wave to daddy as he gets on his bike. He'll be back in 5-6 hours!"

I'm not sure I understand your question

I'm not sure I understand your question

Why is it taking you 3-4 hours to drop a bike off in transition?

All those things could be applied to running as well...

If it's not local, you have to travel.
You could be managing your diet...and being grumpy.

There are many local tri races (at least around me) that can register morning of. Are reasonably cheap and fun. Yes, even half irons.

But I do understand what you're saying. A local 5k is of course going to be easier logistically than traveling to an Ironman. As well as training for one.

Bolded is the real issue. Does someone really have a problem dedicating one weekend to a big race? Not likely. Ironman race day (& weekend) is magical and I love it. It's the months of weekends prior to race day that make me want to have no part of it going forward.

For a 70.3 and shorter I can do my normal weekday training that's part of my routine, and some shorter stuff on weekend mornings (if it works out), and still have a great race.

What I dislike about triathlon in particular, is that having to keep up with all 3 sports means that it's almost impossible to train an hour or less a day (1 session), and keep anywhere near good fitness. You can be an awesome runner on 1 hr a day.

Why is it taking you 3-4 hours to drop a bike off in transition?

All those things could be applied to running as well...

If it's not local, you have to travel.
You could be managing your diet...and being grumpy.

There are many local tri races (at least around me) that can register morning of. Are reasonably cheap and fun. Yes, even half irons.

But I do understand what you're saying. A local 5k is of course going to be easier logistically than traveling to an Ironman. As well as training for one.

I guess the point is that the time commitment is much more than just race day. If it is not a local race you are having your family travel days before, attend checkin, bike drop, etc all in the day/s before the actual race. You are doing this while trying to maintain a strict diet. You are probably completely distracted, maybe grumpy, maybe on an emotional rollercoaster.

1. Why would an age grouper bother being on a strict diet....read from Greg Lemond's old book about cycling. Rule number one to being a good athlete is to be able to eat anything for loading up before an event and eat anything for recovering after event. Greg said something like this, "I have to eat in 23 different hotels in 23 days and race on 21 days and perform. I have to perform with what I get, or I lose the Tour de France"....how simple is that? All you age groupers need to take a page out of that
2. Why are you distracted. Just focus on what is in front of you. If its your family, its your family...then ignore your bike. If it is your bike cause you're putting on new rubber, ignore your family. Its reasonably simple if you set the expectations. If you can't do it, then don't bring your family. They will be thankful to not come
3. No reason to be grumpy. We're doing this for recreation and entertainment. No one cares about your results. Not even your family. Only you. No one is looking at the nth decimal place beside our names. Our families will throw away all those finisher medals in the trash the day after we die. No one has any use for our times nor medals....don't be grumpy!

1. Why would an age grouper bother being on a strict diet....read from Greg Lemond's old book about cycling. Rule number one to being a good athlete is to be able to eat anything for loading up before an event and eat anything for recovering after event. Greg said something like this, "I have to eat in 23 different hotels in 23 days and race on 21 days and perform. I have to perform with what I get, or I lose the Tour de France"....how simple is that? All you age groupers need to take a page out of that
2. Why are you distracted. Just focus on what is in front of you. If its your family, its your family...then ignore your bike. If it is your bike cause you're putting on new rubber, ignore your family. Its reasonably simple if you set the expectations. If you can't do it, then don't bring your family. They will be thankful to not come
3. No reason to be grumpy. We're doing this for recreation and entertainment. No one cares about your results. Not even your family. Only you. No one is looking at the nth decimal place beside our names. Our families will throw away all those finisher medals in the trash the day after we die. No one has any use for our times nor medals....don't be grumpy!