Like many of you, I was a cyclist many years before getting into triathlon. I never followed the big cycling names or the big races. Even though I rode competitively, I had little to no interest in what the pros were doing or not doing. It was really embarrassing the day I went into my LBS for an hour long bike fitting and “THE” Tour happened to be on the television. Did you see so and so upstage so and so after the big battle yesterday? No, I didn’t.
Now that I’m into tri, I hear the big names thrown out there. But, again, I don’t care enough to follow the careers or lifestyles of the best of the best. Yes, I know these people can be inspiring and charismatic and get you to wear silly bracelets for worthy causes. But I, for one, don’t care.
So, my question is, can I be a true trigeek without know the big names and follow what they are doing, who they are dating, and what they put into their water bottles?
And for all of you who answer “no,” tell us who your tri hero is and how he/she enhances your life.
I certainly think I’m a tri geek and I don’t care much about pro triathletes. To be honest, the main challenge to this is the availability of news. I mean, the only articles I could find after Kona was here. Xtri took at least a day or two to have a story up. So in that sense, even if there’s someone interesting to follow, I just don’t have the easy resources to keep me up to date.
Personally I find it hard to find people to admire or look up to. Maybe I’m too critical.
One person I look up to constantly is my local tri club president. I can’t think of anyone more humble, considerate of others and devotion to his family. He has helped me in triathlon, my work, and personal life and I can only hope to be half the man that he is.
I certainly think I’m a tri geek and I don’t care much about pro triathletes. To be honest, the main challenge to this is the availability of news. I mean, the only articles I could find after Kona was here. Xtri took at least a day or two to have a story up. So in that sense, even if there’s someone interesting to follow, I just don’t have the easy resources to keep me up to date.
Personally I find it hard to find people to admire or look up to. Maybe I’m too critical.
One person I look up to constantly is my local tri club president. I can’t think of anyone more humble, considerate of others and devotion to his family. He has helped me in triathlon, my work, and personal life and I can only hope to be half the man that he is.
IMO, we should be critical of these people. At the TDF Floyd Landis took a slot away from some clean kid who busted his ass to make it in cycling. Floyd cheated himself, his sport, and anyone who wasn’t allowed to compete because they didn’t make the cut.
In 1972, I was 4 years old. My mother was raising me alone after an amicable divorce from my father. He as not around very much, but Mom worked two jobs and we were happy. That winter, she was skiing up at Stratton Mountain, VT with friends when she hit a patch of black ice and launched off the side of a 150 foot ravine. Half way down she hit a tree which broke her fall but also fractured her pelvis and skull, crushed 6 vertebrae, and collapsed her lung. When the ski patrol finally reached her, they thought she was dead. As they brought her down off the mountain, they were sure she would be paralyzed. She had to be transported to Boston and then to a special trauma center in New York City but was eventually stabilized. While there, she met a nice young doctor who would eventually become my Dad.
It took almost 2 years, 4 surgeries, and nine months in a full body cast, but she eventually was able to function normally again. They fused the damaged vertebrae so she lost a few inches in height, but otherwise she made it through. She never had been much of an athlete. She was a school teacher and helped coach the girl’s Field Hockey team. Running up and down the field gave her a lot of pain. In 1976, Jim Fixx, a resident of my home town of Greenwich, CT., wrote his book about running. At around the same time, Nike introduced it’s first waffle soled running shoe. Mom new Jim and thought the shoe’s were funny so she bought a pair. Suddenly, running on the field didn’t hurt. Sometime in the summer of 1977, she found a quiet outdoor track and took her first steps as a runner.
In 1979, she completed The New York City Marathon. In 1983, she saw news coverage of a crazy endurance race in Hawaii called Ironman. She made the decision that she would finish that race. We were now a very athletic family. I was a competitive swimmer as a kid and a cross country runner in High School, we rode bikes for fun and exercise, and Mom’s running trophy case grew and grew. So in 1984, she flew to Kona and did competed in Ironman. She had such a wonderful experience, she returned every year for the next 4 years, setting a World Record for women’s masters division, age 40-45! I was so proud of her accomplishment especially considering the adversity she overcame. She continued to compete into the '90’s in both Triathlon and Marathon. Her last Ironman race was Pensacola in 1999, where at the age of 57 she finished in just under 13 hours. This past January she ran the Phoenix Rock 'n Roll Marathon with me and my wife and at age 63 finished a mere 43 min. behind her 37 year old son in 4:13, qualifying yet again for Boston. Amazing.
Thanks all :). My goal next year- to stand on that same pier in Kona getting ready to race the same race she did 20 years ago. The circle will be complete and she will be there to see it.
I’m not sure where the Floyd argument is coming, especially since I don’t mention pro-cyclists?
I have an opinion on Floyd and others but the fact is, we don’t know the facts. And that’s where my argument continues about the accessibility of information. Why have ANY interest in people you don’t know and can only make assumptions about? Did you even read my post before replying?
I’m not sure where the Floyd argument is coming, especially since I don’t mention pro-cyclists?
I have an opinion on Floyd and others but the fact is, we don’t know the facts. And that’s where my argument continues about the accessibility of information. Why have ANY interest in people you don’t know and can only make assumptions about? Did you even read my post before replying?
You said you’re too critical of people so it is difficult to find anyone worthy of being a hero in your eyes. My point was that you ought to be critical of these people. I used Floyd as an example of a pro athlete because he is the only one I’ve heard enough about. I used him as an example to illustrate a point.
People do the sport for different reasons. Obviously. Of course you can be a true participant without an ecclectic knowledge of who the top athletes are.
I think there is something to be said for understanding the legacy of Scott Molina, Dave Scott, Mark Allen and SCott Tinley.
Speaking of Tinley, he wrote in his column in *Triathlete *magazine that this sport tends to not rever its history to the same degree as other sports. I agree with him, and I think it is a shame.
How do the pros influence or inspire me? I met Normann Stadler once and I was impressed with him. I thought he was a nice man a wise athlete and a good sportsmen. I like that and would try to emulate that in my own pursuit of the sport. It’s inpsiring.
To me the pros and their performances are a wealth of knowledge about the sport, and I think we do well to learn about them.
Thanks Tom, great input. I agree with you that there is much knowledge to be gained by these great athletes. The problem is, for me anyway, you have to sort through so much garbage the effort often isn’t worth it.
