The Tri Town Times: 3/11/24

• Posted on 8 March 2024
• By Antonio Gonzalez
• Posted in the tri town times
• 0

Suffering as a tool for personal development.

Hi all,

Here is your weekly Tri Town Times newsletter:

Weekend highlights:

- Professional cyclist Matteo Jorgenson, who hails from Boise, won the Paris-Nice stage race. The historic event plays a key role in shaping the strategy of the pro peloton as they gear up for the cycling season, making it a highly anticipated and closely watched event in the world of professional road cycling.

- The Miami T100, the first of eight events hosted by the Professional Triathlon Organization, was held on Saturday afternoon on the Homestead-Miami Speedway. India Lee won the women's race with the fastest bike and run splits, while Magnus Ditlev took the top spot in the men's race, holding off American Sam Long who had the fastest run split of the day. 

- FYI: The T100 Triathlon World Tour is the rebranded race series jointly launched by the PTO and World Triathlon. The series runs from March through November, featuring eight races across three continents. The top 20 male and female triathletes worldwide will compete in these events, vying for a total prize purse of $7 million. The first race of the series was Saturday's event in Miami. The name 'T100' is derived from the race distance itself: a 2k swim, 80k bike, and 18k run.

- A painful read: upon realizing that anti-doping testers were waiting at the finish line, 130 racers (out of 180) abandon an amateur bike race in Spain.

Gear that caught my attention:

Cervelo recently announced an amazing deal on their new full suspension mountain bike, the ZFS-5. The ZFS-5 is a light weight cross country race bike with dual remote lockout, tubeless wheels, and full carbon fiber frame. We have a few in stock, and all are currently listed below our wholesale cost.

Quote that struct a chord:

I first wrote this piece a couple years ago. As many of us enter the 2024 race season, I thought it a fine reminder on the value of a good struggle:

"No man is more unhappy than he who never faces adversity. For he is not permitted to prove himself." -Seneca.

The essence of doing hard things lies in embracing the struggle and a touch of suffering. What will we remember at the end of our lives? The chill, easy, monotonous moments? Or will we remember the times when our backs were against the wall and on the brink of failure yet somehow overcame the odds? The fact that it was hard is what rendered it worthwhile and memorable. 

Genuine personal development only happens once you've ventured past your comfort zone. A good challenge is like fertilizer to personal growth.

Epictetus, another Stoic philosopher, once noted, "The trials of these teachings will introduce you to your strengths." Even 2,000 years ago, some Romans sensed a yearning for challenges in a life that had grown too soft. Today, modern society has conquered many of life's natural challenges, yet many of us find the desire for a meaningful challenge persists within us.

Consider cycling as an analogy: when you feel the first signs of a bonk coming on, that is the place you must get to before you can adapt and develop as an athlete. It may take three hours of riding before you get that last hour of development. The first three hours are the entry fee, the last hour of discomfort is the reward. 

When an athlete is feeling comfortable and fresh, their mind is like a busy and noisy classroom. There are tons of distractions, lights, voices, and noises. Learning and development is compromised. When they begin to struggle, the distracting lights in their mind turn down, the room becomes dark, and they may hear nothing but the voice in their head telling them to stop. While the outside world becomes almost invisible, their focus is directed 100% internally. They've now entered the realm where they can develop as an athlete and learn something about themselves.

I hope you find a way to smile when the struggle becomes real in your next event. The event you signed up for was supposed to be hard, wasn't it? Remember that only when you're well past your comfort zone can you truly learn something about yourself, and hopefully grow and develop as an athlete in the process.

Have a great week!

Antonio Gonzalez

Tri Town Bicycles

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