Umm. . . No point, really, just making some observations. (But the fat lady on the P3 rocked. Seriously.) I’m very glad that there were a lot of tri bikes at your race.
If one insists on finding a point for discussion in my original post, OK. But it certainly isn’t the point that BriBri seems eager to think it is. How about this?
A lot of mountain bikes. The fourth or fifth finisher off the bike was on a mountain bike with skinny tires and clip on aero bars. The point here might be that one does not need an expensive race machine to do well, as this woman stomped most of the field on an ugly old mountain bike. Or not.
A lot of road bikes with clip-ons. Not many dedicated tri bikes. The overall winner was on an R2.5 with clip-ons. The point here might be that, based on my observations yesterday, woman are more practical in their bike purchases than men, choosing more versatile, all-around bikes. Or not.
*An obese women on a P3. She wasn’t particularly slow, either. *The point here might be not to judge a book by its cover. But it isn’t. The point here is that I enjoyed seeing the woman ride a nice bike, instead of covering herself up in a tent and riding a cheap Walmart bike because she “doesn’t deserve” anything better.
One lady with her helmet on backwards. First time I’ve seen that in real life. The point here might be that it’s pretty funny to see someone ride a bike with their helmet on backwards. Or not.
A bunch of ladies with ipods. For a sprint. I don’t get this. The point here might be that I don’t understand what the hell anybody needs an ipod for in a sprint distance race, and why the hell they can’t bear to be alone in their own head for an hour or two. Or not.
One lady with unshaved legs. That was odd, especially for a triathlete. The point here might be that seeing a female triathlete with unshaven legs represents a double style violation. Or not.
At a recent women’s only tri in my area, I was on the bike course at several points… The top 3 women were riding road set-ups. The first place woman averaged something close to 26 mph on a not-really-flat course (but no real sustained climbs). Sure, lots of MTBs, not many full tri set-ups. So what?
no comments about boobs, butts, things bouncing, etc etc etc. I, for one, think your observations are quite innocent. unless there’s something you’re not telling us…
I just did my first ever tri yesterday, and it happened to be women only. It was a great race and I did so much better than I ever expected. And yes, there were lots of women out there who I thought were doing some quirky stuff, but that happens at all races.
Last year I saw a dude who wore jeans (I am not kidding) during the bike portion. He had duct-taped the bottoms. And this was at a very competitive race where it was over 90 degrees. Pretty crazy but he did the whole thing.
I think unfortunately because you are referring to women it can be taken the wrong way. I took it that way originally (for which I am somewhat embarrased) so thank you for your subsequent post.
To clarify, my point is not that the race wasn’t competitive (did I mention how Mrs. Vitus’ relay team won their division?) or that women aren’t competitive, or that women triathletes are all soft and fuzzy and don’t know enough to ride a real bike in a race. It was my first time at a women’s only race, and it was a little different, is all, and I thought it was interesting. OK?
