A Bike Fitting with the GURU Bike Fit System

When cyclists think about getting a bike fitting they probably associate the process with buying a new bike. The sales person/bike shop owner/bike fitter does their own assessment on what size frame a person should be riding and then based on how sophisticated a system the bike shop uses, either sits that bike on a…

Drafting 101: Riding with a USAT Official, Part II

Now that you’re familiar with the rules for drafting during the bike leg of a triathlon, Drafting 101: Riding with a USAT Official, Part I, with those in mind I once again asked Jonathan Lewis a few questions to help sort out what I was seeing. Fred: As a racer I feel like I see…

Drafting 101: Riding with a USAT Official, Part I

The bike portion of a triathlon is an individual time trial, the key point being individual. Sitting behind another rider, shielded from the wind is called drafting and it is illegal because it is cheating. When you are drafting you are not riding as an individual and therefore you are gaining an advantage over your…

Singing the Praise of Sprint Triathlons

I don’t think it’s an understatement to say that the majority of triathletes start out in the sport by doing either a sprint triathlon or as part of a relay team. Once the hook has been set, most continue to add distance and time to their training, moving up to longer and even longer distance…

Is There an Ironman Distance Race in Your Future?

As the summer is winding down the eyes of many people in the world of triathlon become focused on the Ironman World Championship held in Kailua-Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii every October. There are many other triathlon “world” championship events held around the world, in each of the different triathlon lengths, but Ironman Hawaii…

Are You Psyched for Your Last Race of the Year?

As the end of the triathlon season approaches, with season ending championships on the line in the upcoming weeks, triathletes wear one of four faces. Tired and worn out from a long season of training and racing already, struggling for motivation to finish out the season Pumped and excited that the finish is in sight,…

The Streak Continues, 25 Years and Counting

Back in the summer of 1989 the only connection I had to triathlon was maybe something I read in Sports Illustrated or saw during the limited coverage of this crazy event held in Hawaii called Ironman. I swam for fun on hot summer days in the ocean, commuted to work on my bicycle with an…

Bike Out/Bike In Safety

Anyone that has stood at bike out or bike in at a triathlon has likely seen many different approaches to how to get on and off a bicycle to start and end the bike leg of a triathlon. Some of them are very good; some of them are not so good. On the eve of…

Doing the Double, Two Days, Two Tris

Most people will say that racing a triathlon is tough enough to do and never consider getting up the next morning and doing another race, albeit a shorter one. They wonder why anyone would even consider it? The simple answer, because they can, and because the Race Director (RD) offered it. As races and race weekends have…