The Tale of Leon

I had an interesting day on Sunday.  It was one of the last few remaining days suitable for outdoor biking this year.  I don’t bike when it gets below 45 degrees because the wind just takes menacing chunks out of your face when you are screaming down a hill at 35+ mph.

I had intended on going for about 40 miles or so.  I had made it from my apartment to the downtown area, past the I-Cubs stadium, and across the Raccoon River on my way towards Gray’s Lake.  I then heard an all too familiar hiss coming from my back tire.  I knew exactly what that meant.  I unclipped both feet from the pedals quickly.  As I was doing so, I could feel the back of the bike lower ever so slightly.  The noise from the back tire was increasing.  There is no other thing this could have been other than a flat tire.

I have fixed many flat tires over the years.  It usually is not too difficult to change out the tube.  It’s rare that the tire is destroyed in a flat - it’s just a “pinch flat” of the tube usually.

I only had one flat during all of 2012.  This was during RAGBRAI, and affected just my back wheel.  My front wheel hadn’t had a flat since late in 2011, I think.

This week was a little bit unusual though.  Since this past Wednesday, I have had three flats, two in front and one in the back.  I have gotten great usefulness out of my current tubes.  It’s rare that I get a tube to last 4 months with as much as I bike, and me being a bigger guy.

The second front flat on Wednesday came about because my hand pump has fallen into disrepair.  It could only get about 60 psi in the tube before the pressure in the pump kicked the pump tube out of the socket.  I had tried to baby my bike back home because I knew that running at only half my usual pressure made me more susceptible to flats.  It didn’t work, so I ended up destroying two tubes that day.

On Friday, I went to the bike shop and switched over to a CO2 system.  This means flat tires can be changed quicker, but more importantly, I don’t have to rely on hand pumps.  I have never found a well-built one in 6 years of biking.

The CO2 system is also the reason I met Leon.

The more kindhearted bikers will ask if you need assistance when they see a fellow biker with what looks to be a maintenance issue.  Most of the time you’ll get a response from them that they have everything handled, so it only costs you a couple seconds slowed down to attempt a good deed.  A few times, I have been able to help with various problems.

I was facing the other direction and didn’t even hear Leon approach me.  He came to a complete stop before I saw him.  He asked if I needed any help.  I said no, but thanked him for stopping.  He hung around though, and struck up a conversation.  He had never seen a CO2 cartridge used and really wanted to watch me.

Leon is 81 years old and is a nice gentleman.  He was headed back up the same way as I was.  He invited me to ride with him.

It is not often that I get someone to ride with me.  There is a group I ride with on Wednesday evenings, but they are mostly criterium racers and they stopped showing up after their season ended.

I appreciated the company, even though I had to slow down for him.  I didn’t have to slow down too much for Leon, though.  He had plenty of speed for an old man.  We averaged 15.5 mph for the return trip and even had spurts up to 17.

I asked Leon if he had been on RAGBRAI before.  He has done it 13 times, but none lately.  He was there for the second ride, back when it wasn’t nearly the size it is today.  

I’d love to be as active as he is when I am that old.  We were discussing our bike frames.  His was a nice Trek from about 15 years ago.  He told me that he used to bike 7,000 miles a year.  He is now down to about three or four thousand.  That frame had 90,000 miles on it.  Now that is some dedication!

With the energy and passion that he displayed, you would have thought that he was in his 20’s or 30’s.  However, how he treated others was more indicative of his true age.

I am normally one of the friendliest people you will meet on the trails.  For pedestrians or bikers coming at me, I usually say hello to them, but don’t have time for anything else.  For bikers that I pass, I usually try to have a conversation with them if they are traveling at a speed somewhat similar to mine.  If they are just poking around like half the bikers are, I’ll say something, but it won’t last long.

For the pedestrians that I pass, I try not to scare them.  I say the required, “On your left” in a loud voice, but those aren’t the first words I say to them.  If you say just those words, by the time that the person recognizes that you are even talking to them, they have to think for a second about what the appropriate action is for them, and even still, they might mess it up.  Some people interpret “On your left” to mean that they should be on the left side of the trail, which is incorrect.

I always use the phrase, “Coming up on your left”.  I think this gets better results.  The “Coming up” accomplishes two things: 1) it alerts them that I am talking to them, and 2) it puts emphasis on the fact that *I* am the one that is going to be on the left.

Leon took things even farther.  He would strike up a short little conversation as we went by everybody on the trail.  He would even slow down and have as much of a conversation as he could with the pedestrians, even the ones that didn’t look or sound like they wanted to talk.

We enjoyed describing how we interact with others while on the trails.  We both agreed that neither of us talk to people with headphones in any more than we have to.  It just isn’t worth the effort.  People with headphones are rarely aware of their surroundings.  It is funny how the headphone crowd is always surprised when I blow by them.  If you had been LISTENING, you would have known there was a bicyclist about to pass.

I wish I could meet more people like Leon out on the trails.  Whenever I go cycling, it is usually the highlight of my day.  If I met more Leons, it would always be the highlight of my day.

For-Profit Volunteers

I know, loyal readers of my blog are possibly tired of hearing about triathlons so frequently.  Take comfort, after this upcoming weekend in Madison, WI, I have no more triathlon related events until May or so.

After reading my post from Sunday again, I was concerned that I was being a bit harsh and mean spirited.  I regularly read two online forums dedicated to triathlons [I don’t post, just lurk there].  It seems quite a few other people had some severe criticisms of the race as well.  People were lamenting about many of the same things I mentioned, but gave their own spin on things.  Reading those comments lessened the guilt I had about possibly being overly critical.

I do want to clarify one thing, though.  I was tough on how the parking was run.  I was rightfully frustrated with how that was handled in its entirety from planning to execution.  However, I am always grateful for the volunteers that are out on the course.  They take time out of their lives just to help the competitors.  I haven’t yet volunteered for a triathlon, but I will do so this weekend.

I have developed my own criteria that I will apply to future volunteer opportunities for endurance events.

*First rule*

I will not volunteer for a race ran by a for-profit company.  If the race management company / title sponsor is looking to keep the extra revenues above the expenses of the event, why shouldn’t I get a cut of it?  This is in the same vein as unpaid internships, which one could possibly argue should be illegal.  Fortunately for me, the insurance industry doesn’t believe in unpaid internships.

My experience has been that about half of the events are run by non-profits and half not.  Some events have been run better than others, but I don’t think the profit variable has correlated with my overall experience; they seem independent.

*Second rule*

My other life events come first.  If I am planning to race in that event or have something else planned, that will come first.  I don’t think that is unreasonable and I’m sure many events understand this.

*Third rule*

If you are a non-profit group and I dislike what you stand for, obviously you can’t expect me to help you out.  Of course, very few groups are affected by this.

*Fourth rule*

I’m not driving all over just to be a volunteer.  I’ll only do it if it is local.  Fairly obvious one.

All that said, I am violating the first, second, and fourth rules by volunteering for Ironman Wisconsin this weekend.  The World Triathlon Corporation will make a lot of money off the event, I have to put everything on hold this weekend and even take a day of vacation on Monday, and I have to drive for many hours on Friday and Monday just to get there and back.  However, I don’t think I am being hypocritical.  I am being paid, just not monetarily.  What I get in return is the guarantee that I will be able to purchase a racing spot for 2014.  The race is very popular and sells out in only a few minutes in most years.  It is not much in terms of compensation, but it is not zero, and that is good enough for me.

Open Letter to Hy-Vee Triathlon

WARNING: long post and solely about triathlons

Here is a letter that I just wrote on the Hy-Vee Triathlon's website in their feedback area.  Things did not go well today and I needed somewhere to vent.  Athletically, the event went fine, except that I felt like I was a touch slow on the bike and run.  I don't know my times from the swim and run, I chose not to wear a watch this time.  It was the admin of the race that had me up in arms.  The parking thing made me pissed.  I am a calm and stoic guy most of the time, and it takes a lot to anger me, but when I get angry it isn't pretty.  [No, not like the Hulk].  I regret my anger earlier in the day and how I presented it to others [details not shown in the letter or here on the blog].  I do not regret the letter that I sent to them.  Those messages and words fully apply, implied emotion or not.

Just so the letter is easier to read: 5150 is the branded name of the series of races put on under license from Ironman, just like Ironman is a branded distance.  It is a fairly new series that has developed over the past couple years.  The generic term for this same distance is an Olympic distance (same distance raced in the Olympic Games).  5150 is a play off of the total 51.5 km raced in an Olympic.

If anything doesn't make sense, let me know in the comments and I'll try to explain better.

**************

 

This will be a rather long message.  I have some critiques of today's race and some suggestions for how things can be changed to make the race better.  I hope you will truly consider what I have to say and not just slough it off.

Background on me: I have been involved with triathlons since 2009, am 31, and have raced in 4-5 tris most years ranging from Sprints to Halves [First Full at IMWI next year - lots of training in the next 53 weeks to get ready].  I am usually around a 2:50 Oly finisher, and Olys are my most common distance.

Today was the third time I have done the Hy-Vee Triathlon and I must say that I was quite disappointed.  I also raced in 2009 and 2010 when it was held at Raccoon River Park.  I liked how those two were run for the most part.  The change in venue was fine, I like this year's bike course better, but preferred the older run course.

**FIRST ISSUE**

The first major problem was parking.  I think the volunteers who were running the parking were incompetent.  They were primarily a bunch of high schoolers who looked like they weren't on a unified page of what was going on.  I left my home in enough time so that if there was no traffic I would have arrived at 5:45.  Given that traffic would likely slow things down, I assumed that I would be able to arrive at 6:00, giving me 30 minutes to get transition set up, plenty enough time for me.  Because of the slowness of the parking crews, traffic backed up for a mile and a half on Fleur.  That distance took 70 minutes because we were just sitting there for most of the time.

I ended up having to park on the opposite side of Fleur by the industrial area, because I was directed there.  However, when I went by the main parking area, there was a huge area just sitting empty.

The stated reason for the race delay was the weather.  That is not what delayed the competitors.  If there was no delay, a huge portion of your competitors would not have been able to get their transition set up by 6:30.

I have several recommendations on how to fix the parking.  First, get a parking crew that knows what they are doing, give them radios to communicate efficiently, and train them ahead of time.  Maybe they were trained, but just not well enough.

Second, if these problems persist, just hold transition open later.  There is no reason transition can't be open right up until the first wave of 5150 participants get out of the water (keep in mind that there is a 1.5 hour wait now between when transition closes and the normal age-groupers start, so there is the potential for a longer transition set-up time for them, alleviating parking congestion).

Another solution would be to go back to the bus system to get all of the athletes and spectators to the venue.  That method worked very well with the only downsides being the earlier wake-up time for most people and the cost of the buses.

**SECOND ISSUE**

Don't treat your regular age-groupers as third-class citizens.  We resent being treated as the also-rans.  Multiple times your announcers referred to the regular age-group race as "The People's Race", which sounds insulting and rather like China.

I understand that the 5150 Championship was added as a way to get a boost in attendance, and I think it was a good idea.  However, they shouldn't be given preferential treatment over the regular age-groupers.

There is no difference, other than speed, between the two types of racers.  We all paid the registration fee and we all try to do the best with our abilities.  Please don't treat us any differently.

I recommend getting rid of the two separate races idea.  If the 5150 Championship gets to start in waves, the age-groupers should as well.  If the 5150 gets to start in time trial format, the age-groupers should as well.  We shouldn't be treated any differently.  This would also get rid of the planned 15-minute gap between the two groups, which was rather silly.  I doubt it takes 15 minutes to move up the timing mats.  The 5150 Championship requires a 2:15 or 2:30 qualifying time, so there should be minimal numbers of regular age-groupers that could cross a regular 3-minute wave break anyway.  And if they do, it's no big deal if you just add an extra letter on the age marking so people can tell which race they are in.

Just as an aside, why was there only one finishing clock?  When I crossed, it looked like the time was measuring from the start of the pro waves.  If you are truly treating these as individual races that just share the same course, then put three different clocks up and let us figure out which one applies.  Then we would only have to subtract out the time delay from the start of our race.

**THIRD ISSUE**

I imagine that this message will go only to the race management company and not Hy-Vee management, but I'll try anyway.

Why was there a pro field and why was it set up the way it was?

Giving $100,000 to the male and female winners just seems like a waste of money.  In 2009, the pro race was a qualifier for something (sorry, I forgot what it qualified for), and was televised somewhere.  This year I didn't see a motorcycle camera crew ahead of the pro fields, so I assume it wasn't televised.  The spectators in the stands didn't pay an admission fee.  There is no way that money was recouped and it seems like an expensive marketing tool for Hy-Vee.  [I get why Hy-Vee heavily promotes the non-pro races: it helps registration but more importantly lets them advertise the healthy eating options they focus on now]

Now, how it was handled.  What I really liked about the 2009 pro race was how spectator friendly it was.  I think this was the day before the age-grouper race and I combined bike drop-off with watching the pros.  Since their bike route was 8 laps and the run was 4, we got to see them quite often.

Today was much different.  The 5150 Championship likely barely even saw them except for passing in opposite directions on the bike, and the age-groupers could see the swim and the bike portion right near transition / swim start.  The only people who likely saw the finish of the race were the family members of triathletes.

Another thing I doubt that can be changed, but it is worth a shot: why can't the ITU or whoever has control let the pros use the same type of bike racking system most every other race uses?  And why do they need their own special transition area?  They were doing the exact same course, let them use the exact same equipment.  This would further reinforce the notion that they are a triathlete just like the rest of us, but again with speed differences.

**FOURTH ISSUE**

What happened to all of the free food samples that were given out in 2009 and 2010 from Hy-Vee's vendors?  There were a ton of them giving out anything you could think of.  Because of those samples, I started picking up a couple new things at Hy-Vee that I otherwise wouldn't have thought to try.  Hy-Vee needs to get back to strong-arming their vendors to showing up again.  Everybody wins because of it.

Thank you for taking the time to read this entire message.  I hope I have been insightful with my observations from today's race and hope they can be used to improve things in the future.  I won't be able to race in 2014 because I will be in taper mode for IMWI a week later, but I will attend and based on what I see I will make a decision about 2015.

Full disclosure: I will post a copy of this message to my blog for all to see.

Unique and Special

Lately I have been fixated on trying to answer the question, "What is it that makes me special?"  Sure, this question is philosophical, but I have been contemplating it nonetheless.  I am sure that everyone has heard the phrase "People are like snowflakes, no two are alike" [If you read this like George Bailey at the end of "It's a Wonderful Life" you'll get the full effect].  Of course, that is the optimistic view.  The pessimistic phrase is something like, "Everybody's special, just like everyone else" [If you make your voice sound like Eeyore you'll get the full effect for this one].  So, what is it that makes me special?  What is it that makes me different from the 7 billion other people on Earth?  I'll try to stay between the extremes of George and Eeyore.

I sure you remember Venn diagrams from school at some point.  You know, those three perfectly overlapping circles that you saw in a math class somewhere.  I'm in the same boat as you, they are a nice visual aid, but aren't very exciting.

Would it be possible for me to draw enough circles of life experiences in my theoretical Venn diagram to identify myself uniquely? Probably, but that would require a number of circles.

I race in triathlons, so that puts me in the same circle as over 100,000 other people just in the U.S.
I am an actuary, but I share that job with 20,000 others just in the U.S.
I was a table games dealer for a year in Las Vegas.  I don't know how many casino dealers there are in Vegas, but I'll guess 4,000 current and 40,000 former.
...
If I continue this for a while, eventually I'll have drawn enough circles so that I am the only person that fits all the criteria.  Would this then make me unique? Special?

Well, yes and no.  Yes to unique because I drew enough circles so that only I qualify.  However, I don't think that qualifies me as special.  My reasoning is that you can draw enough circles of life events and eventually you will be able to identify anybody uniquely.

So, I haven't laid out anything that qualifies as special in terms of grand life events.  I don't think minor life events would work; they would suffer the same logic.

Would this apply to all physiological characteristics?  We have entire fields of study devoted to finding commonalities in the physiological space.  Look at any hospital, doctor's office, or medical school.  Since I don't have some unique disease [as far as I know, hehe], I don’t believe this one will work either.

I'm sure the same reasoning could be applied to my physical or chemical properties as well.

Is it true that I could reduce the possible areas down to just how I think, feel, and communicate?  Is it possible there is something in those areas that could make me special?  The answer to that one is a definite maybe.

I just don't know what that item is or what those items are yet.  I guess if I knew the answer to that one, I would be able to define my purpose.  Until then, I guess I have no better answer to Douglas Adams' question of the meaning of life than his "42".