A New Triathlon Club for Los Angeles?

Rumor has it triathletes in Los Angeles are going to have a choice in tri clubs soon after the New Year.

For the better part of the 2000s, the Santa Monica based LA Tri Club, which boasts over 1500 members, has been the only club choice in the Los Angeles area. Word on the street is local athletes have grown tired of the LA Tri Club being used as a breeding ground for Triathletix coaching services, and of the ubiquitous presence of "Hollywood type" members. Other companies would like in on the triathlete pie, too, but apparently only want triathletes without over sized egos. (The existence of such triathletes is still under investigation.)

.

Looks like the LA Tri Club has some competition coming, also out of the Santa Monica area.

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. Will LA Tri Club loyalty stifle the emerging club's membership? Will people have dual memberships?

One thing is certain. Choice is always a good thing.

Let the games begin!

Is Triathlon Leaving Young Triathletes in the Dust?

"Triathletes Leave Slowing Economy in the Dust." So states Don Norcross of SignonSanDiego.com in an article published on the 12th. It seems coaching companies, tri producers, bike shops et al. are not hurting at all this year.

Why is that? Because triathletes, Triathlete publisher John Duke believes, aren't "the people getting laid off. They're the people laying off.” To use the readers of Triathlete as representatives of the triathlon community as a whole, he points out that the average household income of Triathlete subscribers is $177,000.

The average reader of Triathlete is a 41 year-old male. The average Triathlete reader also owns an average of 2.6 bikes. Fair enough. A bike without its wheels on could be called 0.6 of a bike.

In all the industry's glee at getting bigger and making big bucks, even during the recession, it seems they're doing so at the cost of a very important audience: young triathletes. You know, the ones who will grow up to be the future of the sport. Even pros, most of whom don't make much money at all competing in the sport, seem to be getting the short end of the stick.

Many of these young triathletes and young pros work in jobs that do not require the full use of their cerebral talent so they may have enough time to train, and hopefully make enough money for the large amounts of food they need to keep training.

Unless they work in a booming tri shop, apparently, they are getting laid off.

Perhaps a more plausible reason for the ability of triathlon to weather the current economic climate: it's an addiction. Not a bad addiction, in all cases, but certainly one for which every addict--regardless of reported house hold income --will find a way to get the cash to compete.

And NAmerica Sports (who puts on US Ironman races), among other companies, is cashing in. It's $525 for an Ironman entry right now, up front, a year before the race. And if you want to get in, you practically have to go to the race site--a huge expense if you're not from the area. Why? Because sometimes, as in the case of IM USA this year, the race sells out on site and never goes online.

Triathlon, in an effort to keep itself very well in the black, is catering now more than ever to it's cherished demographic of the people who are doing the laying off-- 41-year old males with 2.6 bikes who make a great living.

.

In a way, the sport can't be blamed for the desire to milk this demographic for everything they've got. They pay the bills. It's good business--for now. Why would anyone lower race costs when the demand is there?

.

It is a shame that all this catering to wealth is at the expense of the sport's youth. Eager to compete--addicted--they try to press on, in spite of the incredible tri-hierarchy that has been created in recent years, where coaching services prey on the uninitiated, bike shops don't have affordable bikes, and the price to compete is going up exponentially.

Wasn't triathlon founded on the principle that anyone could do it? Anyone can swim, bike, and run, right? Sure. Just not competitively, anymore. Even movie theatres have student discounts. Not so at most big races.

.

Perhaps, if the sport stays this course, triathlon will leave the slowing economy, young age-groupers and young pros in the dust together.

...Unless we rebel! :)

Is the Recession Making People Evil? Thank Goodness for the Ridgecrest 50K

People in LA are getting meaner.

Either that, or I'm getting more sensitive. But three years in a big city is supposed to toughen a person up, not make her a big ball of emotions, so Theory 1 overrules Theory 2: people in LA are getting meaner.

In an admittedly Pollyanna-ish view of the current recession, I believed people would be nicer to each other, more willing to help one another out, and more respectful of each other. It would be a grand ol' group effort of positivity that would keep everyone afloat, since "we're all in this together", as many a song has said.

LA is notorious for crushing dreams, and accordingly, it swallowed that one whole.

It seems that several people have taken an "every man for himself" outlook on things. It's like Los Angelenos are all actors just rejected from their billionth audition. Dejected, they wallow in their own little bubble, not aware of the people around them--people that could help them thrive.

What better way to leave this festering bag of depression (and evil, cyclist-hating drivers) than by driving three hours north to the high desert of Ridgecrest to run (or in my case, be a roaming cheer squad at) a 50K?

For those of you who don't want to do math, that's 31 miles.

On the roster: Robyn (Silverwoman extraordinaire), Eric (RockHardRunners ultra fanatic), coachubby, a frenchman, and a 30K-er. And me--a lone runner determined to run as far as the hambutt would let me, while cheering for everyone else.

I started running the 50K backwards at 9AM, figuring I'd see coachubby an hour out, then turn around and come back.

Not so. In fact, I never saw any of my friends.

.

But all of the participants I passed while I was running the wrong way wore huge smiles when I cheered.

An incredibly fit Santa whistled people along at the Gracie's Mansion pit stop, 5 miles out from the 50K finish. He was excited to see me running, even if it was the wrong way, and let me huddle by his portable stove while waiting for coachubby.

.

When coachubby didn't come, and it started to rain, I ran for it. I stopped at the final aid station to cheer again. This one was wo-manned by three cherubic, enthusiastic ladies. They were so excited every time someone came by, it was impossible for racers not to smile at the women through their pain.

.

I ran the last mile, coming upon a 50K finisher.

"You're doing great!" I said.

"So are you!"

"I haven't run half as far as you have!"

"No matter, you're a runner, too!" says the older man with a rapid-fire turnover I could never hope to match.

And so I remembered why I race. Or why I go to events even if I'm not racing to cheer on friends.

Races like the Ridgecrest 50 and 30K create that perfect world where, if only for a day, everyone around you is positive, encouraging, motivated, and working toward a goal--one that is immediately rewarded upon completion.

Races can be a mini utopia.

The longer and tougher they get, it seems, the more cordial everyone is to one another.

And so the trick is to take this positivity phenomenon and somehow spread it to where I live...Sunday beach long runs, anyone?

.

(And yes, I finally saw coachubby and my friends. Coachubby walked the last 15 miles swinging his arms like an angry grandpa so he'd finish, in spite of an IT flare up.)

Five Facts About Lance Armstrong's Sweat

1. One drop of his sweat on your skin will up your cycling cadence by 10 rpm.

2. Two drops of his sweat will up your power output by 100 watts.

3. Lance knows the exact composition of his sweat just by licking his arm, and can adjust electrolyte and fluid consumption accordingly.

4. Your sweat would dissolve upon contact with Lance's sweat.

5. If bottled, Lance's sweat would be the next big thing in the energy drink market, making you 100x more alert, and 1000% better at climbing. DRINKSTRONG.

Tour of California Announces Silly 2009 Route

The 2009 Tour of California route was officially announced yesterday, destroying my chances of breathing in Lance Armstrong's BO.

In 2006, the Tour magically ended steps from my front door, with a 76.5 mile circuit race around Redondo Beach allowing for hours of spectator fun. It was freakin' awesome. But you know what would've been more freakin' awesome? Some Lance Armstrong.

Don't get me wrong, the 2006 Tour had some drool-worthy riders. Landis, Evans, Leipheimer, Julich...

But when the Tour came around my back door in 2006, I had owned my first road bike for all of 12 days. I was still trying to figure out how to shift, and the only reason my friend pointed out Landis to me was because Landis had a "hot wife".

.

In 2007, the Tour of California ended with a circuit race in Long Beach, a stone's throw away from Redondo Beach. Also freakin' awesome.

Then came 2008. The Tour of California ended with a point-to-point race from Santa Clarita to Pasadena. Super not cool.

And to continue the rotten tradition of 2008, the 2009 finishing stage is even more super not cool.

Says Andrew Messick, president of AEG Sports, presenter of the race in a press release, "Each year, we continue our commitment to upgrading and enhancing every element of the Amgen Tour of California, not only for the cyclists, but also for the spectators along the route, by creating an even more challenging and exciting race."

Pardon, Monsieur Messick, but ending the Tour with a point-to-point race from Rancho Bernardo to Escondido is not exactly spectator friendly. Ending it at the top of a mountain is downright spectator hostile.

.

Perhaps Palomar Mountain is gorgeous and virtuously difficult. But it's a mountain. Even Ironman has sacrificed beauty and course difficulty ratings to make courses more spectator friendly (ahem, Tempe Town Lake? Home of three-eyed monster fish?)

So, points against Tour of California race organizers: took race away from me and the rest of So Cal and stuck the finish on top of a mountain.

Points for Tour organizers: Lance, and a women's crit with $15,000 in prizes. I hope that means cash.

(Yes, that's Lance. Don't ask, it's the first photo that came up in a Google search.)

The crit will be very spectator friendly. However, it is in Santa Rosa. Phoenix is closer to me than Santa Rosa.

Oh why, oh why have you made it so hard, Tour of California organizers, for me to get sweat on by Mr. Armstrong? I would've happily camped out on the median of Catalina Avenue for the chance to smell him, or get whacked by one of his dry water bottles!

Bring the Tour back to me! Or else you might find one more rider going up Palomar Mountain on February 22nd. Early. Waiting for Lance to throw a Powerbar wrapper at her or something.

Just kidding.

Not really...