Left Coast Low Down
Adventure Racing in the land of fruits and nuts

Monday, August 27, 2007

Triathlon Dreams


I had my first triathlon dream last night. I'm a prolific and very literal dreamer, which my wife finds endlessly amusing. While her dreams are a nightime pastiche of Freudian imagery reflecting her penchant for world-class worrying, mine are way more prosaic. I'll dream about rugby every November, even though I haven't played competitively in twelve years. I'll dream about what gear I need to pack for a race, a proposal I need to write -- they are my mind's little Post-It notes.


My triathon dream found me scouring some huge school gym, looking for food. I was desperately looking for race-day food, like Clif-blocks, and all I could find was some Perpetuum (yes, I dream brand-specific) that a rep would sell to me for $10.


But what this scenario really reflects isnt' the high cost of supplements, it is the astonishing degree to which I am unprepared for my next race.


See, on September 9th, I'm doing the Big Kahuna Half Ironman. I am not a "triathlete;" if anything, I'm an adventure racer. I've done precisely two off-road sprint triathlons and actually did ok, but tris are a leisurely diversion, not anything close to an "A" race for me. I find that the people they attract aren't that attractive, and the whole leg-shaving, $6,000 bike thing just doesn't resonate with me.


But triathlon's skimpy gear requirements and ease-of-use are appealing every once in a while, so I signed up for this half-Ironman and didn't think much about it.


Well, that was folly. I've done 41 straight hours of hiking in the woods of Western Maine. I've mountain biked for 14 hours on end and run Class III rapids in a freaking Sevylor. But ride 56 miles on a road bike?


For some reason, that just hasn't happened, mostly because I kind of hate road biking. Who would choose to share the road with insane drivers when you can ride in the woods?


But yesterday I saddled up with my teammate Austin Murphy to spin through the backroads of West Marin for three to three and a half hours - the approximate time I figure it'll take me to do the Kahuna bike leg.


Austin, fresh from riding l'Etape du Tour as part of his reporting for Sports Illustrated, is as bike-fit and lean as he's ever been in the ten years we've been working out together. So not only was I riding farther than I've ever done on a road bike, I was doing it with a guy who can break my legs off; a guy who was (oh, the irony of betrayal) riding a $6,000 Felt that he got just because he happens to write for the biggest sports magazine in America.


The results were ugly and predictible. I limped home after three hours and seventeen minutes, having logged only 50 miles. So in two weeks, I'll be slogging through the Pacific Ocean without a kayak, dragging my hairy legs behind some 66-year-old age grouper on the bike, and trying to survive a 13.1 mile run.


The dream is about to turn into a nightmare. And those of you wishing poor tidings on an adventure racer for crossing over to the dark side: I promise - no more tris.

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posted by Gordon @ 11:48 AM   0 comments  

Friday, August 10, 2007

Outdoor Retailer Low Down

The first time I arrived in Salt Lake City's Salt Palace Convention Center for Outdoor Retailer, I knew I had found a second home. Walking around was like seeing my Rolodex come to life. This year is no different.

Fellow CheckpointZero blogger Mike Bitton is here, working hard as always. Troy Farrar is making the rounds, representing adventure racing with his usual easy-going authority. I had dinner last night with Rebecca Rusch and Jon Dorn, the editor of Backpacker Magazine, to talk about our incipient plans to race in Primal Quest. Even Adam Doti, the face of adventure racing in the Bay Area and a key member of Team Dirty Avocados, is here, hitting up gear makers and generating sponsorships.

In a word, AR is well-represented. There's been some talk recently, some hand-wringing, some whinging, about how how our sport is on the decline. To that I say: not really. Sure, it's incredible growth hasn't sustained itself over the past ten years, but that would be impossible. Adventure racing is now in a maturing phase, a phase that means we've actually made it as viable, well-known sport - at least around these people.

And these are the people who count most to our community. They're the ones that run the retail outlets where we buy our gear. These are the people who cough up sponsorships so that we can AFFORD gear. And they're the people who actually make the gear that we use.

I met with the two head marketing people at Wigwam, makers of killer socks, and they couldn't have been more happy with Robin Benincasa, who has been relentless in putting out the word on her sponsor. I had a meeting with the PR maven of The North Face, Amy Goldhammer, who was pumped about her company's new AR shoe, the Crusade. (An early look at this shoe is exciting folks - it's a very light, really functional, grippy shoe that should really get some attention from us).

In the show's daily magazine, they interviewed six people and asked, "Who is your Outdoor Idol?" That's a big question, and the responses ranged from Magellen to Meriweather Lewis. But two people cited adventure racers: Rebecca Rusch and Ian Adamson.

So that, I think, shows that the exploits of racers still resonate with the people who count. So quitcher whinging and make plans to attend Outdoor Retailer next summer.

Did I mention that a ton of booths have free beer every afternoon???

posted by Gordon @ 3:31 PM   0 comments  

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