1992Yesterday I took the TT bike out for a spin. It's been more than a few months since I've been on it. The weather was great; sun was shining, great temperature ... even the wild turkeys were having a good time.
I love riding my TT bike. It's fun to crank up the speed and feel the wind rush around your body. I imagine it's how birds must feel when they're swooping out of the sky.
So I'm tooling along...keeping an eye on the speedo just for kicks. The way out is into the wind and I'm only able to manage the low 20's without going completely out of the zone. After the turn, with the wind at my back, it was hammer time. As my speed snuck into the 30's I suddenly found myself thinking back to my first Triathlon.
My first triathlon was the Bud Light Triathlon in Del Mar in 1992. I wasn't in very good shape and at the start line had no idea how much pain I was about to endure. As a former swimmer I came out of the water OK and then spent the rest of the day being passed by just about everyone. I learned a lot that day and have a bunch of vivid memories but yesterday was linked to September 13, 1992 by my awe for the race winner. Perhaps best known for his six Ironman Championship victories, Mark Allen could also blast an Olympic distance race. I vividly remember staring at the results sheet (I still have my copy) in disbelief at Mark's average speed on the bike ... 27.8 Mph. Never mind that he had just swam a sub-19 minute 1.5 K ocean swim or was about to run a 32:39 10K. That is one fast TT.
Yesterday, for some reason, I found myself in awe all over again.
4 comments:
that's haulin' bananas! each split is solid in it's own discipline. yup, still an awesome lil sport. and, yeah, how 'bout them wild turkeys? mity frisky these days.
I am actually more impressed by the run time. I did my first 10k in January and it was right at 60 min. I think the time Mark Allen posted would have won the event I entered which was a damn big event.
I used to do triathalons with my brother but then he started coaching waterpolo. I kept doing them even though I hate to run. It then dawned on me that I didn't have to do them if he wasn't going to, and I started concentrating on riding. I occassionally talk with
Chris Lieto who is something like 5th in the world at the Ironman distance. He's a great guy and crazy fast on the bike. Not to mention the pool and run. Triatheles are some kind of crazy.
I had a long chat with Chris L. in the parking lot before Snelling. Nice guy!
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