The Tri Town Times: 10/3/22

• Posted on 2 October 2022
• By Antonio Gonzalez
• Posted in the tri town times
• 0

This week: Never meet your heroes.

Image: Professional triathlete and Tri Town employee Travis Wood.

Hi all,

Thank you to everyone who supported the Tri Swap this past weekend. The sale was a great success because of you. If you sold gear at the Swap your store-credit or check will be available to you later this week. We will contact you with an update. Please pick up any unsold gear by the end of the week. 

Here is your weekly Tri Town Times newsletter: 

Events I'm looking forward to: 

- Ironman World Championships: The pro and amateur women race on Thursday, and the men on Saturday. The race will be broadcast live via Facebook Watch on the IRONMAN Now channel, and also via IRONMAN Now on YouTube and Twitch. I've counted five local athletes competing this year, including Jocelyn McCauley in the professional race. 

- Hour record attempt: Italian cyclist Filippo Ganna will take on the hour record this Saturday. He will be riding a stunning scandium-aluminum-magnesium alloy bike 3D-printed by Pinarello.

- NICA Idaho Mountain Bike State Championship:  Saturday at Bogus Basin Mountain Resort. Over a thousand student-athletes from across the state will be competing. 

Quote that struck a chord: 

"Never meet your heroes." 

At the sale this weekend a friend asked me who my 'triathlon hero' is. I said I don't have a hero, but that was a lie. The truth was that I did have one, and credit that man in helping me develop and grow as an athlete. When I was in my 20's I read every blog, article, and book he published. I truly admired the person I thought he was.

Then I spent a week training with him and a team of athletes in the Sawtooth mountains, and my opinion of him changed.

No one could truly have lived up to the character, discipline, and patience I imagined for him. Somehow, when I was busy putting him on a pedestal, I forgot that he was still a human being. 

After that experience, I was rather disenfranchised with not only him, but many public figures who seemed larger than life. Never meet your heroes.

There are two types of heroes: imaginary heroes and real heroes. An imaginary hero is one we make up in our mind- meaning any hero we have not yet met. Real heroes are simply real people, with all the good and bad that comes with being human. 

The problem is not the imaginary hero. Often this person did not ask to be held to your standard. The problem is in thinking a perfect person exists, while ignoring all the amazing people around you. 

A real hero is the mother with a full time job who still finds time to train and compete in local events, and never once complains about 'being busy'. 

A real hero is the pro athlete who had little promise as a youth, but through persistent grit and determination stuck with it until his results were amongst the best in the world.

The truth is that you should never have to meet your heroes, because you already have, and they are all around you. 

Train smart, and have a great week! 

Antonio Gonzalez

Tri Town Bicycles

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