TriFest just wrapped up in Tucson and I thought that I would note a few key things while they are fresh in my mind.
Thanks to Trisports.com and the TriFest organizing committee. They did an outstanding job. Honestly, one of the best run and professional Expo’s of this size that I have been to. First Rate!
I can’t speak fully about the seminars/talks as I did not attend any, but I heard great comments from both presenters and attendee’s about the content and interest.
The Expo had a great range of vendors and product from many different areas. Note this was not a limited or exclusive event - anyone could be there and this event had a better range of products and vendors than a number of big race event expos that I have been to recently.
The riding in Tucson is amazing. There really is everything here. Flats, rollers and big, long climbs and the weather at this time of the year is perfect - not too hot not to cold.
The TriFest Group ride on Friday morning was an outstanding event - how often can you join in a group ride with a number of high profile Tri personalities, suppliers and pro athletes while at the same time challenging yourself at your own level on the famous Mt Lemmon climb.
Thanks to all the people who did come to TriFest this year. And for those that did not, you missed a fantastic few days. Make sure you put TriFest on your Must-Do list for 2009!
I have to agree with you. The expo was great. Hope now that it has a base it continues to grow. It was nice being able to see the products and talk to those responsible for creating/dealing the products. I got the chance to talk to Steve Hed, Mr Sampson and several others about their products. Saw some of the new technologies. And yes our Arizona weather cooperated nicely.
Did you get out on the bike today? How did you like the wind? I rode later in the day…20 mile an hour winds with gusts that about blew me off my bike!
I thought it was a great event as well. I am fairly new to Triathlon training (haven’t raced yet) and found the Expo to be great as far as seeing all of the products in one place, and more importantly getting to talk to the reps about the items. The conferences I did attend were great as well. I did get a chance to talk to Fleck about wetsuits and figured out what my next purchase will be as well.
AWESOME time and incredible expo. I have to say that Trisport and their crew really did a fantastic job. I was short handed and Seton and his staff stepped up and helped me out. If you haven’t been down to their store, you are missing a great group of people. I have seen almost every tri shop in the USA and Trisport wins the award for best of the best!
The highlight of my trip was having Steve Hed help me fit up Pip Taylor on her new Airfoil Pro. You just can’t pay for that type of advice! I’ve known Steve for years and there is noone more knowledgeable with fit and aerodynamics then him. He even had his kids working and all I kept saying was do you know how cool your dad is??
Make sure to check out Pip this year. She’s an awesome girl from down under and is here in the states by herself so if you see her at races please say hi.
Mark Allen’s speach was also inspiring and he event mentioned his Kestrel days way back when so it was nice to get the free plug. As he said, all these companies at the expo are here to make you go faster.
Adam from Guru had the best rig I’ve ever seen. Nice RV totally wrapped with a Guro Bike with car in tow and the biggest dog I’ve ever seen. The cool part is chatting with other bike companies and everyone sharing ideas about our bikes.
The best of show was one multiple times by Zoot. Hands down they are making some very cool products. I gotta get a pair of their new shoes.
Overall I have to say this is a great new event and something that everyone should plan to visit next year.
I took lots of pics and have a 5 minute video with Pip and Steve Hed. I’ll post it up on the kestrelbicycles.com website when I get back to Philly in a few more days. I’d rather stay in AZ for a few more days, weather here is great!
We went down as an event management company to promote our event, The Battle at Midway Triathlon (www.bamtriathlon.com). What a great time, we attended last years TRIFEST and we were amazed to see the phenomenal growth that took place over last years event. I don’t think last years was called TRIFEST, but rather was in conjunction with a Sprint Tri taking place at ASU. It is great to see TriSports.com experiencing such amazing growth…is easy to see why though. The whole TriSports.com gang is great, Seton, Debbie, Sarah, etc…there couldn’t be a nicer and smarter bunch of people! Well worth the 12 hour drive from SLC, UT…we will be back next year, such a great networking opportunity!
Thanks again and keep up the great work TriSports!!!
Absolutely agree 100%. TRIFEST was a top-notch event and the price made it even better. The Conference was only a few Benjamins (well worth it–been to many A LOT more expensive where yoiu get A LOT less) but the expo was free with a food donation to a local charity.
The expo was the best i’ve seen. I met LOTs of great people–more reasons this is such a great sport!
Trisports.com did a great job setting this up! They continually to above and beyond to provide a professional product/conference/event with a professional and fun atmosphere.
If you missed this year’s TRIFEST, shame on you! Put this on your list for next year, and include a Tucson Camp leading up to or the week after the Conference and Expo to maximize your training time in Tucson! There is no better training location this time of year.
If you missed this year’s TRIFEST, shame on you! Put this on your list for next year, and include a Tucson Camp leading up to or the week after the Conference and Expo to maximize your training time in Tucson! There is no better training location this time of year.
Maybe next year it won’t be the same weekend as Ragnar Relay.
Carefull now you might make a few UofA Triacats upset refering to their school as ASU! LOL! Last years event was actually TriSports’s grand opening.
Oh CRAP…sorry, certainly didn’t mean to do that. I actually was totally thinking in my mind that it was Univ of AZ…don’t know why I wrote ASU. Anywoo…Tucson is great. Can’t beat the weather this time of year, did the Gates Pass ride yesterday with TriSports group…what a pretty ride! Some great local tri clubs and such as well.
Thanks again for a great time, looking forward to next year!
You dog…there has been over 10 feet of snow this winter up here…today it is freezing rain, which means it sucks for running or XC skiing, making the trainer or the non existent pool times the only fitness options…Tuscon sounds way toooooooo good after my hard 1 hour on the trainer today…I really can’t imagine how guys make riding the trainer their primary source of winter fitness…its my last resort when I can’t run or ski!
I was even thinking of taking out the MTB to bike commute to work on account of it being March 1 and only 2 months to St. Croix, but I’m going to wait!
Thanks to Fleck and all the other vendors, athletes, speakers, etc. that came out for TRIFEST. It was great for our staff to take a step back from TriSports.com and simply focus on promoting the sport of triathlon. It is always nice to give back and we were happy with the results of our efforts for the first year. Look for next year’s event to be bigger and better. We are already planning for next year and we are 98% sure that it will be moved back one week to March 7-8 so mark your calendars now…
If it moves will not make it the same weekend as the Desert Classic? Nice thing about it being when it was this year is people could opt to come a week early and do the Desert Classic or stay a few weeks after and hit the Tucson Tri (if they get in before it sales out) and get in some great training in between. Just somethinng to think about.
Yes, that was/is a major consideration for us. It is hard to pick a date that works best for everyone, but we are heavily leaning on pushing it back a week based on some other factors.
I was at the Expo towards the end of the day yesterday and saw her getting fit. I had no idea who she was but figured she must be kind of a big deal to be getting that kind of attention. In any event, we got there kind of late and a couple of the vendors seemed to be tearing down their displays but it was still cool to see a lot of the latest and greatest in tri-related equipment. I hope I get a chance to check it out next year and will make an effort to check out some of the conference as well.
This sounded like a great event. I just chatted with a couple who had returned from Tucson after attending a training camp there. They said it was excellent for pre-season training.
I spent most of my time in seminars and can absolutely say they were great!
Mark Allen was good and seemed a very humble and low-key guy. Very approachable.
Coach Lee was extremely patient in tolerating my unceasing questions…wish I could spend a week just picking his brain.
And the sports psychology expert, Dr Marc Strickland, gave very informative and entertaining sessions.
Only problem I had was deciding which sessions to attend…with the overlap in schedules, you had to pick and choose.
I also got to do the Sunday morning ride and enjoyed my 2nd trip over Gate’s Pass in a week. The desert was even more beautiful after a week of spring weather.
All in all, a very productive weekend and one I would recommend to coach’s and athletes. I will be back next year for sure!
