At the HalfMax 1/2 IM on June 5th: I passed a guy on the bike with two bottles mounted behind the saddle. They were pointing almost directly backwards (that is, the bottles were almost parallel to the top tube). One bottle didn’t have a top, and it was full of pretzel rods. If I had had my wits about me, I would have reached over and taken one as I passed.
What have you guys seen in races?
-Colin
I remember in my second season of tris (11 years ago). I got about 5km into the ride of an Oly distance race and this girl (she was barely a woman) in a bright yellow 1 piece swimsuit passed me very slowly.
She was crunched over the aero bars and had the most amazing wedgie! She had the most phenomenal butt I have ever seen. Obviously memorable.
That beats pretzel filled bottle launchers any day! 
At our local sprint tri I saw a bike with a car tire sized can of Inflate-A-Flat duct taped to the seat tube.
Dave
Last year at WF I was spectating the long course and saw someone with a spare clincher stuck in a bottle cage.
A pack of Camels taped to the top tube at IM Hawaii. Someone get off of their bike and have a smoke at the turn around in hawi (a very reliable witness reported this to me) woman with a baby stroller the size of an SUV casually stroll THROUGH the bike traffic exiting the pier at IMHawaii during the absolute busiest time of the swim exit and get offended when she is yelled at to get out of the way Euros stripping down to their socks in the middle of hundreds of people after a swim at The Pier in Kona An athlete go through the drive through of Burger King on Palani Road during his IM race (had money in his pocket, needed something other than race food for the day) an athlete with one leg amputated at the hip riding his bike with no prosthetic, and flying past everyone Erin Baker in a skirt at the IM awards banquet (long time ago) Paul Huddle in a dress at the same awards banquet (it was Halloween and damn he looked hot) How crappy most triathletes take care of their bikes, compared to roadies (sorry guys but it’s true) How many athletes are packed into McDonalds in Kona wearing their finisher t-shirts and medals a few hours after they finish, scarfing down Big Macs All the Euro tri guys shaved from head to toe, and their Euro girlfriends who don’t shave anything a guy walking into the bike shop I worked at, wearing only a jockstrap, asking to try a bike
Sorry…got a little off topic
.
Went into Jamba Juice last year during Kona IM as my girlfriend was racing. The Jamba crew told me a guy had just run up Palani and taken a little detour to get a Jamba Juice, wonder what flavor he got…
Doing Kona IM in 2003 and this 20something Japanese girl is riding in the middle of the damn road standing the ENTIRE way, just cranking away with all us in our aerobars going by on her right. Very weird, always wondered how long she kept that up or if she finished.
A walker doing a 1/2 marathon with the super Lavabelt they used to make that had 8 bottles on it. Oh, I should mention that it wasn’t sports drink or water, it was 8 FLASKS OF GEL!
Volcano Wilderness runs on the Big Island of Hawaii, old 5 mile course which ran across the crater floor, people ran with heavy gloves, knee and shin guards.
The outsole of my running shoe (mildly tri related) melting while taking pictures of the lava on the Big Island. I got on the front page of the local paper too, headline was something like “stupid tourist (I lived there) taking pictures too close to lava flow”
A guy doing a tri wearing those wooden Japanese sandals for the run leg.
The leader of a half Ironman in front of me on the run (I was right behind in 2nd) takes his hat and dipps it into the ice water barrel to scoop up ice. Well it turned out to be the ice cytomax barrel not the ice water barrel… and then we all got cytomax from that barrel later:P
Conrad Stolz in ass cheek high torn jean shorts, a wife beater, cowboy hat and a 40 at the Xterra Maui after party, hilarious.
I didn’t see it but I know someone who took a nap in his hotel in the middle of the run in IM Malaysia because his hotel was right on the run course.
A guy at the Busselton Ironman got off his bike at an aid station and produced a tootbrush and paste and brushed his teeth.
Volcano Wilderness runs on the Big Island of Hawaii, old 5 mile course which ran across the crater floor, people ran with heavy gloves, knee and shin guards.
My favorite race, the OLD 5 mile course…I was first wahine one year, I think you weren’t even in high school then. Second place a handfull of others years. Where Pea and I were married also.
Yeah, I think they changed the course the year before I started doing it and that was the 8th grade or something like that. Strange thinking back to then. I remember hiking the crater while the people were running and thinking how cool it was. Then I did it and all the sudden that whole “cool” section was gone. Although you still get that crazy phenomenon of the sub 5 min first mile followed by the 9 min or so 2nd mile…
Haven’t done that race in a while, gotta fly back again one year.
Sitting here eating warm gooey chocolate cake, drinking milk, and cruising ST. Can’t get any better than this. Okay okay, back to work.
Well this isn’t the strangest thing, but definitely the funniest.
I have a friend who’s happily married but a huge flirt. Dresses cool, talks cool, very important to him to be cool. (but he IS cool) He knows every tri and du girl in town. He was doing a duathlon and on the bike leg he was trying to catch up to an attractively shaped girl but just couldn’t do it. So he figured he’d catch up with her in transition and talk to her out on the run course.
He makes a zippy transition, and shortly after setting out on the run he catches his quarry. They’re conversing for a little bit and he’s being his cool self when she says
“ummm…do you mind if I ask you a question?”
“Of course, sure”
“Why are you still wearing your bike helmet?”
If your friend was really cool he would have had some really smooth reply said in a very nonchalant way!
If your friend was really cool he would have had some really smooth reply said in a very nonchalant way!I’m afraid at that point cool is lost. Reminds me of “Brad” from Fast Times in that stupid pirate hat trying to look cool to that chick in the car next to him.
If your friend was really cool he would have had some really smooth reply said in a very nonchalant way!I’m afraid at that point cool is lost. Reminds me of “Brad” from Fast Times in that stupid pirate hat trying to look cool to that chick in the car next to him.
The one thing I know I have figured out in life is that cool is not having certain clothes or certain friends, it’s about how you react after looking like a fool. This is exactly the type of situation that decides if you are cool or not. If the response is delivered right, even if it is complete crap, coolness is attained.
.
At a triathlon a few years back in Georgia saw a girl on the bike whose suit was made of a very thin, black material was basically see-thru. She was a hottie and it was hard to go ahead and pass her on the bike when the view from behind her was so good. Later saw her at the finish and realized (as did many others judging from the stares she got) that her front was just as transparent.
However, felt mildly creepy when I noticed that the age marked on her leg was 14.
I guess the strange part was how did her parents let her race dressed like that?
didn’t see this myself but saw the movie made by friends at a race in Tremblant when I was in Canada…a (slow) guy gets out of the water walks to his bike, has that big ass lock on the bike to secure it in T1 (it was by far the cheapest bike of the whole transition), looks for the keys, open it, then gets a map, to check directions, gets dry clothes, then after about 20’ takes off with the map carefully placed on his handlebars, and his helmet backwards…just when he leaves, you see the leader coming in T2 (that was a bit longer than a sprint).
Guy finishing goes right to his kit and lights up a smoke.
Guy out on the middle of the run course wearing his helmet.
Guy runs a sprint tri dressed in a clown outfit complete with facial make up because “this is all about having fun”. Finishes third over all.
At a triathlon a few years back in Georgia saw a girl on the bike whose suit was made of a very thin, black material was basically see-thru. She was a hottie and it was hard to go ahead and pass her on the bike when the view from behind her was so good. Later saw her at the finish and realized (as did many others judging from the stares she got) that her front was just as transparent.
However, felt mildly creepy when I noticed that the age marked on her leg was 14.
/reply]
HAHAHAHAHA! I know the feeling. Its the “I’m definitely going to hell” thing.
Gatorman.
Need I say more?