what we talk about here?
I was reading Brandon Marsh’s post down there about his schedule, and he indicated he does Xterra.
I guess my question is, do you hardcores drift toward mountain biking, and Xterra, after getting tired of Ironman events?
It seems for many of you, when a question is asked, what bikes you own, many of you throw in your mountain bikes, too?
Is there more money or sponsorships in Xterra, for those of you triathletes, who are leaning that way?
Xterra events and similar off road tris are really really fun. Not for everyone as some people have ankle and knee problems trail running. Others don’t like or have the skills to ride the bike over big rocks and wet roots. I think you get a lot more smiles per mile in the offroad events.
I think Xterra is what Ironman used to be 20 years ago. Sort of a big family of people doing the same thing. Nowdays I think the regular onroad tri people are the old “roadies” of the past. You hang with them but you don’t have to like them. The last ten or so tris I have done on the road people are yelling about drafting, or blocking or your “position” on the road. You never hear a harsh word at an Xterra event, and people are allowed to help a brother out with a mechanical and you don’t feel bad asking for or giving a tube away for a rider down. Since 90% of us don’t make a living at triathlon sport, why not do races that the other folks in the race are fun to be with during and after the event?. Nothing funner than hanging out at the bike washing pit post race and hosing each others bikes down. Things will probably change as time passages, but for now Xterra is like the “Ultradistance” runner crowd, an oddity and a lot of laughes.
You have a couple good races down around Arkansas you need to do. G
xterra races are a lot of fun, but as someone who lacks hardcore mtn bike handling skills it’s a huge learning experience. You want to experience getting passed FAST, watch me on a bumpy single track and listen to all the “on your lefts” I hear. My strategy is BLAST the fire road sections and hold on for dear life on teh technical stuff. Xterra sure is fun though, and the trail runs are way more fun than road stuff. The element of adventure versus just hammer down on the pedals is refreshing although the thought of crashing hard crosses your mind pretty often. And then there’s the “if I do xterra’s I’ll likely crash and possibly injured and can’t race road tris…” question to deal with. It’s fun but a whole different race.
I include my mtn bike in my bike count (anyone want to include my Ibis Alibi hardtail in thiers, $1100… new bike on the way).
There’s less money that I’ve seen in teh Xterra field but at the same time (no offense to the fast pros) it’s easier to get into that upper echelon as there’s less people trying to get in.
Xterra’s(xt) are different and not necessarily tougher, but you need technical skills like the guys mentioned above. There are definitely some intense challenges like the sandy climb at Incline (1500 feet in 3 mile or so at altitude) and the run at Big Bear . Have not done Keystone, but that is supposed to be the one of toughest xts. Then again there are road tris like the World’s toughest and that Norseman thing that was posted earlier. I think they are all hard, which is part of the reason why I keep doing them.
I also concur on the coolness factor of the people – a lot more laid back in general, but they seem to get quite a mix of mtbers and roadies.
As far as IMs go my experience was drifting from xt to the IM, but I plan to mix in an xt race in September.
I did my first Xterra, the Capital City Dirt Tri in Hartford, CT, last month. It was quite fun and the atmosphere there was more ‘chummy’ than most triathlons I go to…although I realize this is a very subjective observation.
The race had some interesting challenges and twists which made it more fun…a sandbar crossing during the swim, the run as the 2nd leg / the bike as the 3rd and a stream crossing during the bike.
Cheers,
Matt