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Okay, so this weekend in Show Low, Arizona at the Trisports Dueces Wild Triathlong festival I was initiated, officially to Tri-land, which left me completely intrigued with exploring and explaining some of the differences between the two seemingly similar endurance worlds.  As some of you may (or may not) this year I have taken a bit of a step back from “Bike-land” (roadie racing) and have instead decided to try my hand at another sport, Triathlon.   I’m a good rider.  I’m a good runner.  I’m a lousy swimmer-Triathlon…perfect, seems like a fun change of pace.   This weekend proved all of the preceding statements to be true.

The first major difference in Tri-land is all the gear-not only are you doing the usual bike stuff, but there is the running and the swimming gear on top of it and then the organization of it!  I decided to skip bringing any sort of presentable casual wear for pre/post race and instead filled my very large travel bag with all the necessary stuff-it wouldn’t even zip close!   If you think that there’s is a lot of type A buisness that goes into being a good time-trialist, just check out the gear that some of these Tri-folks tote around. I think I would have to take out second mortgage in order to keep up with the Jones’s around here.  I’ve never seen so much Compression garb in my life!  Compression socks, leg warmers, armwarmers-headwarmers, just kidding.  But honestly the amount of “stuff” that these folks use reminds me of why companies are able to sponsor athletes (thank you! ha ha).

The night before I scoped out the infamous and often dreaded “transition zone”-walking and running through what it would be like to strip off a wetsuit, throw on a helmet (buckle it), bike shoes, bottle, race number, running shoes, glasses, ahhh…you get the point, a bit overwhelming. And trying to do this all within one minute with your heart rate screaming at a whopping 170 bpm.  Grace it was not.

Fast forward: race morning.  The athletes congregated about an hour before the started, and here is where the most notable difference occurred (sorry, fellow roadies but I’m going to be blunt here) these Triathletes were actually and honestly social and nice.  I had a woman even offer to move her bike to a less desirable position for me, the rookie!  Unheard of in Bike-land where like vultures we line up for a Criterium an hour ahead and curse anyone (in our heads, of course) that blocks our view.  The conversation what light, pleasant, and extremely low key.  I watched as folks slowly-methodically put on their wetsuits while family members and dogs watched.  It felt like there was something almost missing…was there a race about to happen?  That’s when I had to re enter my familiar Bike-land zone and drink a Red-bull.

I’ll spare the nitty gritty on the race, but give the quick and dirty.  I won.  Not efficiently, but as my coach says a win is a win.  And when I say efficiently I am referring the the first five minutes of the open swim when all I could do was dog paddle and hope not to become a drowning victim.  Loosing over nine minutes left quite a bit of work cut out for me on the bike and the run.

The beers and the BBQ after the race reminded me of a time way back which led me down the path of pursuing bike racing-the days of dirt,  NORBA, and the mountain bike.  I will have to say although, I do enjoy the stimulating tactics on the road,  and I’m not a huge fan of all the Triathlon geeky gear garb,  I much prefer the less ego driven, laid back, atmosphere of Multisport.  With my half Ironman only ten days away I will keep my mind open…perhaps my perception will change.

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