So, I walked into the Leder Laufshop the other day hoping to find a neoprene saddle cover but, alas, they did not have one. They did have a new shipment of the new Orca wetsuits along with a decent price promotion: Bring in a used wetsuit, buy a full suit and get the short sleeve for free. Not too bad of a deal I thought. I went back on Monday morning with my old and tattered QR suit in hand to try on the new orca and make up my mind.
Now the fun part, Lothar was actually working the store yesterday. Just as cool and unassuming as a regular sales assistant. Since I was his only customer, we spoke for about an hour. Or should I say he spoke about training and gave me race tips for Ironman Germany and I asked questions and listened. I just find it so incredible that the pro elites of our chosen sport are such awesome people. Most of us would have been happy to pay him $100 for the advice he gave me but he was just so casual and easy to speak with. He even began to speak English when he found out I was from the states. One of the things I liked most: before I had made my decision to buy, I asked him which would be a better purchase (Money spent vs. time saved.) This new Orca suit or an upgrade from my Spinergy rims. He suggested the rims would be the better purchase. An interesting response since he does not sell rims and was willing to risk the lost of a sale to give an honest answer.
So not only do I have a fancy new Orca suit, I also have a fun story to tell and great advice from one of the best in our sport. But I am still looking for that darned neoprene saddle cover here in Germany.
Flies like to fly because they don’t like to stay.