The Tri Town Times: 8/21/23

• Posted on 21 August 2023
• By Antonio Gonzalez
• Posted in the tri town times
• 0

This Week: World Championship Tour of Long Distance Triathlon
Image: Toby Miller at the Burley Spudman Triathlon

Hi all,

Here is your weekly Tri Town Times newsletter:

Weekend highlights:

- It's a busy time for professional triathletes: just two weeks after the PTO US Open, the world's top triathletes traveled to Singapore to compete at the PTO Asian Open. Ashley Gently won the women's race, while Anne Haug took second despite having an inner tube fall off her bike and wrap itself around her cassette.

- Kristian Blummenfelt won the PTO Asian Open just two days after competing half way across the world at the Paris Olympic triathlon test event (and taking 9th overall).

- Ironman Canada in Penticton was cancelled due to wildfires. A good call considering the air quality index is currently at 286.

- Student-athletes across Idaho took to the trails in McCall this weekend for the first NICA mountain bike race of 2023. Boise High won the team competition. Results.

Industry News:

The Professional Triathlon Organization (PTO) and World Triathlon have partnered to create a "World Championship Tour of Long Distance Triathlon". Unlike Ironman which crowns a World Champion based on the performance at one event, this new partnership will expand the existing PTO Tour and professional triathletes will accumulate points based on their performance at the Tour events throughout the season. Athletes will compete at the 100k distance, and a World Champion will be crowned at the year's final event based on their accumulative season performance.

Quote that struck a chord: 

"Everything good needs time. Don't do work in a hurry. Go into details, it pays in every way. Time means power for your work. Mediocrity is always in a rush, but anything worth doing at all is worth doing with consideration. For genius is nothing more nor less than doing well what anyone can do badly." Amelia Barr

A lesson I seem destined to learn over and over again is that everything takes longer than I initially expect.

I'm not alone in this.

I've trained hundreds of people in the science and art of bicycle mechanics. Rarely do they start the process with an understanding of how long it will take to become truly proficient.

Similarly, few athletes realize the necessary commitment of time and energy to build great strength and endurance.

The issue is not how long it takes to do the job well, the issue is the time expectation.

Almost every mistake I have made as a mechanic was because I was trying to do something quickly.

Almost every injury I've had as an athlete was due to pushing the pace before I was ready.

I tell new mechanics and athletes alike that there is a proper pace for all things. Too slow is wasteful, too fast is risking mistakes.

Instead of time expectations, the only expectation we should have is to the quality of our craft.

Once we remove the pressure of doing something quickly, we can focus on doing it well.

Over time, doing something well often results in being able to do it quickly AND well.

If you have a moment to spare:

- World Tour cyclist Matteo Jorgenson has moved to the Jumbo Visma cycling team.

- A darn good bike advertisement.

Train smart and have a great week!

Antonio Gonzalez

Tri Town Bicycles

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