Thanks for the Jimmy Riccitello interview Herbert, good one

Triathlon Forum
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…and about time!

Nice to see Jimmy’s continued stand on the the wussification of coffee, WTF?! indeed!
Hahahaha…

In case you missed it the first time around…,

http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/features/riccitello/coffee.html

Also, thought people should see this nice little clip on Jimmy and his induction into the Xterra Hall of Fame last year, considering how funny, but humble he was in the interview with you Herbert. The Xterra clip will fill in a few details for people about Jimmy’s offroad (well, all-round), ability, post his olympic distance tri career.

http://www.xterra.tv/?video_id=2388

Big regret at the time for me personally was to find out about the inaugural Aquaterra after the event, bummer. Didn’t make that mistake 2 years later thankfully.

Couple of questions though, was the ‘machete’ photo taken in KK (maybe Jimmy will answer if you are not sure Herbert)?

And the combination road bike/offroad running, (climbing) photo’s… just noticed the same helmet on the bed in the ‘machete’ photo,’ which race was that then, 001 race number too…?

One more question, always wondered why Jimmy never raced the early MSOQ’s with ‘Mr Peanut’ Kenny Souza, Huddle, PNF, and Pigg-Power?

Going on Jimmy’s offroad and all-round ability and monster-bike prowess, it seemed at the time like he was made for the event, towing his teammates around the early courses on bike and foot would have been his forte I thought.

As it was, that job fell to Greg Welch who ended up bungy-ing PNF around for 4 days in '98.

Be good to hear the story behind that Jimmy, thanks in advance, and again, thanks for the article Herbert, good one.

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LOVED this quote —

“I trained a lot. We all did. There were 15 years where I bet I averaged 20-30k of swimming, 300-400 miles per week on the bike, and 35-60 miles per week of running. Although I paid my bills from triathlon, it was a lifestyle more than a job, and I made the most of it. In my mind, what could be better than getting paid to exercise all day? It was a lifestyle I did not want to lose. I figured the more I trained, the less likely I was to lose what I had.”

Posted it for my run friends on our forum this morning for our daily log. Because it makes my training look like nothing :smiley:

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Yes, great picture it paints of a lifestyle that pays the bills.
Work yes, but not in the traditional sense (definition), in any shape of form.
Play and get paid, nice one eh?
How all work should be!
I am sure people you know look at your training log and wonder how they could ever do what you do too…
All relative I suppose…
Main thing is to make work play and maintain that feeling or outlook (attitude?) if your play becomes work.

4

His opinion about the equipment:

Bikes have become lighter and more expensive, and the frames have become more swoopy and aero, but there’s not much out there that makes us ride any faster than we rode in the 80s. Once you plop a person on top of an aero frame, the difference as compared to a round tube frame are insignificant for most of us.

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Timothy Carlson took all the images but I am quite certain that the machete one and the offroad running ones came from the Portobelo Triathlon in Panama.
Which Jimmy thinks is a must do event.

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His opinion about the equipment:

Bikes have become lighter and more expensive, and the frames have become more swoopy and aero, but there’s not much out there that makes us ride any faster than we rode in the 80s. Once you plop a person on top of an aero frame, the difference as compared to a round tube frame are insignificant for most of us. ********Dave Scott was the keynote speaker at the recent TriFest Conference in Tucson. In Dave’s talk, he showed a video clip from the 1986 IMH race of him on the bike. The '89 IMH race dubbed the IronWar between Dave and Mark Allen get’s all the talk, but the clip from '86 was more telling in my view. In it, you see Dave on the bike - a 20+lbs seel road bike with road handle bars and exposed brake/gear cables. Dave’s wearing a helmet that looks like a giant mushroom on his head. His over-size singlet is flapping in the wind. Dave’s over-all time that day was 8:28!! Keep in mind, it’s 1986! There has been only a handful of men that have gone faster than this at IMH. I say this not to knock the other and current greats of the sport nor the amazing advances in technology, particularly on the bike side, just to say it is what it is and that, a big heart, strong desire, and a lot of the right kind of training can get you a long way in this sport.

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I had the honor of being a local ride leader for Jimmy last year in Panama City, I also worked as one of his draft marshalls at IMFL this past year and can say that he truly has a passion for what he is doing. He took the time to make sure all his athletes were familiar with the course and did it in a way that made them feel equal instead of being talked down to. Then on race day he took on the responsibility of making the race a fair one, no easy task considering the long straight flat sections of IMFL, having been there and done that, I now respect what he is doing even more, it is one of the most thankless jobs out there because noone believes they are wrong, or my favorite what about that guy up there. The groups have gotten smarter and when you pull up on the bike they know you have to physically see them drafting so they break apart until you leave, then after the race you hear all the complaining. The bike I was driving and my marshall caught 75 people, since there was only a handfull of us I feel we did the best we could and Jimmy was 100% behind us. He does the thankless job and in my opinion does it to the best of his ability with the resources he has. Thanks Jimmy.