151 Days until IRONMAN 70.3 Chattanooga
Team {your-name-here}
In the world of triathlon, the first team I was aware of was Team Hoyt. Watching their story from an early IRONMAN World Championship brought tears to my eyes. Their story is truly inspirational.
These days I am aware of many “Teams.” Some are just as deeply inspiring as the Hoyts and others are symbols of triathlon community spirit, but most others are a slogan on a T-shirt: “Team Dad”. The slogan teams seem to be a way to get the whole family involved in the training and racing process: “Mommy is going to run 30 miles now, so you’ll have to drive yourself to daycare. That’s your special job on Team Mommy. Yaaaaay”. I joke, but I don’t see anything wrong with slogan teams.
Team TriRiot
No. I’m not going to wear a trisuit with “Team TriRiot” plastered on the back (maybe on the buttocks as a joke). My family is super supportive and they enjoy watching me suffer along with 2000 other crazies, but wearing a “Team TriRiot” shirt is not going to do much for them or me. On the other hand, my ego may enjoy a slight boost.
I like to think of my team as all the people who are going to help me get to Kona. One team member, who will probably deny knowing me, is Charlie, an outstanding bike mechanic. He’s other great things in addition, but we’ll stick with bike mechanic for this post.
Xena on the examining table in the doctor’s office.
In a previous post you learned about Xena’s broke spoke; no joke. Xena is my TT bike. The first time I saw her it was love at first sight. Her gleaming red frame and jet black Vuka aerobars were more than I could handle, but after several months of training and a bike fit, we settled in to a nice mutual relationship. (Then I went to counseling for anthropomorphizing my bike).
Anyway… Xena’s back wheel popped a spoke so yesterday I took her in to see Charlie. Within minutes that spoke was fixed, the wheel was balanced and I was on my way. I’ve known Charlie for a long time. I’ve followed him from one bike shop to another. I really like all our bike shops in Wilmington, but Charlie is so much more than a mechanic: he’s like a family physician. Would you change physicians if she/he moved to a different office in the same town? Of course not.
Charlie makes quick work of balancing Xena’s wheel.
Thank you, Charlie, for your contribution to Team TriRiot. (I’m still working on your team shirt)
Until tomorrow…