I did my Triathlon with my son in Melbourne Fl. Good news he FINISHED, bad news he had trouble with his bike. Almost had an accident, untrued his wheel bad, kept rubbing against stays (opened his brakes). He hung in there. finished the sprint in 2:42:xx. 155th out of 160.
Ole dad (me) - did good, 1:41:xx , first in swim (1/4 mile), 2nd on Bike (16 mile), Knew I couldn't run, this proved it (3.5 mile). I did come in 68th out of 160 total who did sprint. Open water was wierd, but practice swimming with my eyes closed in a pool helped.

Son says next year he will give me competetion.

DO ONE YA' ALL . Its nerver too late - Well I gues death does slow one down.!!!!! They put age on rear calf, 55-59 is a tough bracket but 60-64 is even more competetive. Kinda nice to see pass someone in
30'.

RB.

RB,

Congrats on the nice finish... YOur goal, should you choose to accept it is to not let your son catch you next year!

I will never do a tri, I really don't like swimming, but how about I just try a time trial next year?

So, next year maybe a small pin hole leak in your son's inner tubes? Just kidding. Sounds like you did quite well in this event. Is the run something you'll work on more, or are you content with it the way it is?

Nice job. I'm a tri guy who posts here and in the classic forums. (You didn't happen to see any '60ish Peugeots set up with aerobars did you?)

Tyson
Cushing, Oklahoma

Actually that raises a question for me - just how serious are these guys in 'mature' triathlons? Would I look silly turing up with a normal road bike? Are aero bars a necessity?

I'd like to give one a try and the distance mentioned by the OP seems about right for me (although a longer bike leg would probably suit me better)

// kak

Lots of normal road bikes at "sprint" tri's. They are set up and welcoming for new triathletes. No real need for aero bars at all in the shorter races. I have seen some of the younger guys really flying on true dual suspension mountain bikes. Mimi ('68) U08) is a fixture at some of the races and duathlons. I have some old Scott aeros on her.

These tri's are really fun. I prefer the "Olympic distance" better (1.5 K swim, 40 K bike, 10 k run) but there are som sprint tri's in the Oklahoma area that we all go to and have a lot of fun.

Please try one. I think you'll like it.

Tyson

Only if you want to be competitive.

The serious competitors will have full-on TT/Tri bikes, but for newbies a good set of aero bars (e.g., Syntace C2's) are a pretty good, inexpensive, option. Riding on aero bars requires a bit of practice, but it sure is fun...every time I get down on mine I see the speed go up by about 2 mph.

Tri's (especially at 59) are about having fun. I've only been in 2, but every and I mean EVERY time, I really enjoyed myself and not once did I feel any hint of discouragement from anyone (other than perhaps my own personal anxiety). I'm a solo rider, avoid groups, but this is an event I truely enjoy. Every person is supportive, shouts encouragement, cheers when you cross the finish line, and tells you what a nice job you are doing. Same for equipment. Yes I see old bikes, some folks our age brag on how they been riding tri's for xx years on the same bike. Others try the newer stuff. It is competetive, especially trying to compete against those who have time to train (read retired). But the serious folks keep to themselves. In this event there were only 3 folks older than I was. A 62 year old man, and a 61 & 68 (oldest) year old woman. In fact they put ages on our rear calf and it was really interesting to hear "59 ?" as I flew by a few youngen's. In my first tri, there was a 72 year old and a 10 year old.

Also- this one had 'clydesdales' category = men 220lbs+ and 'athena' = women 160lbs+
also had 'fat tire' category (mtn bike). All 3 optional. I saw one woman I'd estimate went 200 (in a tri suit) finish at about 3 hrs. The look on her face was priceless. She was one proud woman and the crowd was cheering like crazy.


Message is clear - DO ONE- You will enjoy it tremoundously!!!!!!!!

And Yes my son tells me he is going to do it again next year. Ole Dad (RB to you folks) will be ready. And no I don't need no tricks to 'whip' him again. In fact, it felt really good to have my son show pride in his Dad again. The look in his eyes was priceless. Haven't seen that level of 'look' since I coached him in baseball when he was 12 (went 16-0) 25years ago. I also saw him look at his wife as he crossed the finish line and she had the same eyes for him.
Folks - one can't buy that stuff. One has to earn it.

Take care and start training.

Great job! If my back would let me run, I would consider one.