I can’t tell you guys how many people stopped me walking down the street in Taupo, NZ to say “Hi” and “Good luck” that had seen our discussions here on Slowtwitch.
That, combined with all the kind wishes and good luck from everyone on the forum, really made the race a heck of a lot of fun.
Another reason why Slowtwitch- and the people on- it rule.
Thanks again guys!
Tom, this forum does rock. Glad to hear you had a great time. Taupo is a fantastic setting for that race.
Have you heard about the infamous TNO thread? You were a central part of it for awhile. I miss Claudia… Heh, how’d the magic bike perform? Did the Arione seat with QR cover hold up? I’ve battled that wind coming back into town – in 2000 it got pretty bad but I heard this year it was “challenging”)
Welcome back.
Hello Sir,
I have to tell you, it feels more than a little strange swapping stories with the former CO of a planet smasher.
Sir, the saddle worked pretty darn well. No issues with comfort- pretty darn good. I got a very, very minor hot spot on the inside edge of my crotch real high. I think that was more from the tri shorts.
Realistically, that is to be expected with 5:38:00 on the bike in wet tri shorts.
The bike was perfect- absolutely perfect. I can’t tell you how pleased I was with it. Absolutely fantastic.
Oh, I forgot to ask, what TNO thread?
Oh, I forgot to ask, what TNO thread?
When you have a few weeks of free time you can go back and read it… (and of course the parallel topic on trinewbies.com)
“Oh, I forgot to ask, what TNO thread?”
Well, uh, I’ve been trying to keep a low profile around here since then. But at least we might have found you a girlfriend. Her name is Claudia and she’s missing a cycling shoe.
BTW, congrats on a good race.
Oh, I forgot to ask, what TNO thread?
Yeah cerveloguy can tell you all about it. Cerveloguy = Satan. That just about sums it up.
Claudia wants you to call her. She can be reached at 867-5309.
Read what? I have no idea what you guys are talking about.
Cerveloguy was “bashing” newbies on tri-bikes for creating a sea of carnage on the racecourse and suggested that they might be better off staying home and watching TV (said with my tounge in cheek). This created a shit-storm of grand proportions on two different forums. Classic.
PS. Cerveloguy only does sprints…
Brett
(This post was not intended for the humor impaired)
“PS. Cerveloguy only does sprints…”
Shouldn’t that read “PS. Cerveloguy (aka FastTwitch) only does sprints…”
Tom,
This is the thread they’re talking about
Don’t start to read it unless you have a couple of hours to kill.
Actually what really happened is that were a bunch of posts on TNO from newbie tri people who had bought tri bikes as their first bikes and were posting that they were afraid to ride on aero bars. One lady bought a P2K and removed the aero bars to ride on base bars with STI since she was afraid of the aero bars. Another lady (Claudia) posted that she also bought a new Cervelo but had it set up with a cycling shoe/clip-on on one side and a running shoe/clippede pedal on the other so that she would be less likely to fall over when she comes to a stop.
I posted on Slowtwitch that these people would be better served to get road bikes and learn how to ride before just running out and getting tri bikes. Some guy named one “L” Alan, reposted my post over at TNO and then the fur began to fly. Some of the TNO folks completely overlooked what I was trying to say but only thougth that I was making fun of TNO’ers on Slowtwitch. I even got a few private hate mails. It turned out to be the longest threads on both forums. Of course I took (and gave right back) some hard shots, but most regular Slowtwitchers were very supportive of me and what my message was.
It does make sense to learn how to ride a bike before racing one doesn’t?
In the interest of saving the global internet backbone from crashing, everybody reading this thread swear right now, on their mother’s grave or whatever is handy, that they will not breath a word of this recounting on the TNO forum and start The War of the Forums II.
And if you’ve really got time on your hands you can also read the TNO thread concurrently with the Slowtwitch one.
http://www.trinewbies.com/phorum2/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=21542&posts=105
Wow, that is a scary discussion. I worry about things like that a lot.
It does boggle my mind a bit that beginners don’t (or aren’t) take the time to truly develop the technical skills to use their equipment safely. That frightens me. I wonder why that is?
Thanks for filling me in.
Glad to hear you enjoyed the race experience Tom, how about the jump? Did it happen?
Ken
Man, you’re the third person to ask me that question.
Nope, I didn’t jump. I was in the medical tent for an hour and a half after the race with dehydration. I lost over 12 pounds.
The day after the race I was trying to walk into town and sat down on a bench. I had been feeding this stray cat I found everyday near the lake, so I went out there to give it a can of cat food I bought before the race.
I was sitting on the bench and saw a plane go over and four jumpers make an exit at about 10 grand. I thought, “Man, that looks cool, but it is cold up there and I feel like unmitigated crap…”
So I didn’t go. I’ll have to add that to the list of things to do in the future…
I didn’t see any mention of me personally on that page. Did I miss something?
Inevitably, when you spend a lot of time on forums people are going to say bad things about you. It is just part of the deal.
Hey, better to save it for a time when you can really enjoy it, right? Only curious because you had mentioned it in the context of a previous not so great jump experience. Except for the medical tent part, sounds like a great trip, I’m definitely envious, like so many others here. Glad you’re back, and I’m looking forward to reading more details…
Ken