OK - so it was a little ~50 competitor event in South Dakota, but at 42 years old, I’ll take what I can get :-). The shocking thing was that almost everyone had a wetsuit! It wasn’t that long ago that only a few triathletes would have wetsuits in a South Dakota race.
BTW: My other two wins were also in South Dakota. I won the sprint race in Watertown when I was 39 and then again one year later when I was still 39!
I wonder why you’re telling us this?
gonzo great job. agret who pissed in your wheaties?
Congratulations! Nothing wrong with cherry-pickin’ every now and then.
Be nice, agret. Winning doesn’t come so frequently(if at all) for some of us.
BTW, they* have* triathlons in South Dakota??
Nice job gonzo!! Congrats!
Agret–take a chill pill dude.
clm
You are a first class ASSHOLE!!!
Congrats, dude. On this day, at this race, no one was faster.
And it doesn’t matter, because sometimes the big guns will show up for one of those, just to get some speed work, or because a friend is doing the race.
Last year after winning our AG at Pac Grove, Tim Lavelle was so bored he came to Pleasanton and beat me out of a win at Tri For Real (a dorky little, local sprint). I thouhgt it would be a cake-walk…
(a dorky little, local sprint)
Hey, my first tri was a Tri-For Fun…
Hey, my first tri was a Tri-For Fun…
Pricisely my point. It’s a venue where less experienced and rooky triathletes can have fun and learn. It’s also a place where I take my athletes for formative work and transition practice. Also where I go, if I want a shot at winning, because at races like Sentinel or SJIT, it’s a stronger field and I get beat.
My first race was SJIT, which was a humbling experience. My second was TFF, and I came away with some of my self esteem restored.
Of coure the “dorkiest” little race around is the AVAC, which I plan to do again next year (as defending 50-54 champ) and Lavelle does it too, but then it’s his home turf. He beats me, but he’s in 55-59 now.
I like dorky little races, because I can race newbies, and pretend I’m really fast! In fact, I’m doing TFF next weekend, with over 100 athletes from my club, many of them first-timers. I hope I don’t get beat by too many of them.
It’ll be a gas; it’ll be exhilerating; it’ll be a cluster f###! But with any luck, a good time will be had by all…
And we’ll probably end the day with some new tri addicts. That’s the other function of TFF. It’s lightweight and non threatening, and reasonably priced. Kinda like giving away the first taste of heroin!!
I agree, had a bad day…I’m sorry
Gonzo, my sincere apologies, sorry dud, keep it up.
agret, Good of you to apologize, but unfortunately you missed the one hour cutoff. You are hereby nominated for AOTW.
No problem, I can take that and it would back up my appaology, wouldn’t it?
We are all AH from time to time, if you believe you’re an exception, then that proves the statement to be true.
I was hoping to do a TFF this summer as a warmup but won’t be making it back to SF in time.
What’s the AVAC?
The AVAC (Almaden Valley Athletic Club) Super Sprint is one of the coolest* races in the area. It’s a 400 yard swim in the AVAC outdoor pool, a “5 mile” ride on a Spinnaker stationary bike, and a 2 mile run up and down the street behind the club. The club is located about two miles from Lake Almaden (site of SJIT).
*They do it in March, so weather may be cold or even raining.
AVAC is home to Kain Performance, run by Peter and Sherry Kain. They stage the event, and a few notable pros usually show up.
The Spinnaker bikes are set up so that each person has to pedal the same amount of power. It feels like about a 3-4% grade, and it doesn’t change for the full five miles. It’s as brutal event, but the whole thing is over in 29 minutes for the overall winner last year. You go faster than you can for an ordinary sprint race, and the whole process takes until about 4:00 in the afternoon, because they can only race 10 people at a time.
If the weather is nice (aabout 85º and sunny this year) it’s a great afternoon of just hangin’ out. Either way, it’s a blast.
jaylew wrote: Nothing wrong with cherry-pickin’ every now and then.
One of the races I did this year was a big surprise to me, second place in my AG was about 6 minutes behind me. It took me about 10 seconds to realize the BIG DOGS weren’t there…I finally figured out that they were saving it for the next day at a state championship race about 4 hours away. I didn’t cherry-pick that one on purpose…but, next year I might! Actually, what might bring me back is that it was a very well-run race, with a “safe” bike course and a decent run course that allowed you to see the bikers still out there…something about being able to cheer the bike stragglers in while running makes the run seem not so hard…those people still have a long way to go, and they are doing their best. Nice!
Re TFF
And, if things are like the last few years…the majority of the 1,000 racers will be WOMEN!
What club are you with?
clm
Right on, brother!!
The winners medal, doesn’t say “wouldn’t have won if Macca’d been here,” it just says FIRST PLACE!! Winning at a small local event means you rock. It’s a great reward for some hard training, and NOT EVERYONE can do it. When one of the big dogs comes by and rocks a little more, you see where you’re trying to go.
I do like the smaller venues, because they’re more intimate. It makes a nice mix to do a couple of biguns, and a couple of littleuns…
It’s also nice to go get your ass handed to you by Dean (#1 USAT who won 50-54 at Wildflower by 20 freaking minutes) just for the humility and to see what a competitor of that stripe looks like, but I can get humbled at home. If I need to be taken down a peg, my lady will handle that, and I don’t have haul all my gear out and get sunburned and dog-tired to do it.
Formerly Team Sheeper, currently with ClubSport.
About 75 of the ladies from here will be doing TFF (most of them tri virgins). We used to do a program every spring and then take a group to Danskin, but they moved that one to LA this year, so we’re going to TFF instead. I’m excited about that, because I personally dislike the idea of a women’s only race. I know some of the girls like it, but to me it says “we’re just girls, we can’t do a REAL race,” when the fact is that there’s really no difference. Danskin isn’t easier than TFF. I’m hoping that our ladies will come out of this saying, “Hot damn, I can race with ANYBODY.”
I also like it, because I can go race with them. I’ll go first wave, and then be at the finish line to cheer them in. I’ll be hoarse come Sunday…
Wa’ll…thats terrific…I am in my 40’s and think I can do very well racing too and my life isn’t over yet either…and thanks to guys like you…still proving society wrong…yaya…you go. and congratulations!!! Keep it going!!!
BTW, they* have* triathlons in South Dakota??
Sure do. I have family in SD so I race there once or twice a year. One year (1991 I think), this long-haired high school kid showed up at a race in Yankton. I think it was his first triathlon. He smoked the field on the swim and run and won by a few minutes but I actually outsplit him on the bike. That kid was Ryan Bolton.