Mike's Bike Blog

Ride enough with Roadies and you'll soon find out that there is a certain distain for triathletes on the road. I've heard it several times on this topic the tri-guys are terrible in a group and how they can't climb. I've seen it both ways where there's been climbers and guys that can handle themselves in a pack.

You'd think with as much stereotyping that triathletes get I would be apprehensive about this latest news, but my son Jack (9), is signed up for his first triathlon. The race consists of a 100 meter swim, 2.8 mile bike and .6 mile run. He has the swimming and biking in the bag as this summer he really concentrated on his swimming and joined the Nitro swim team last month. Actually the run probably won't be too bad for him either, but Jennifer is out of commission with an ITB injury, so that leaves me to go out on runs with him.  I'm not overly excited to be hoofing around the neighborhood so I'll probably either ride my bike or wear inline skates and skate while he runs.

I foresee many more of these in our future not just for Jack but also Ethan and Zeb. Triathlons for kids at this age are a great way to get into competition and training instead of just focusing on one sport. Also it gives the younger kids an opportunity to compete. USA Cycling races don't start an age classification until the age of 10. Plus finding races that offer a 10-14 year old category is fairly sparse. The triathlons seem to start the kids around age 5 or 6 and here in the Austin area there are plenty to sign up for. Be on the lookout for race reports from Jack and his brothers. Now I have to figure out how these triathlons work and what to expect in the transition area.

Jack at the Driveway Race Series from July

Jack and Ethan showing off their medals from the Driveway Race Series. All I need to do is write Cutters on their shirts and they are set, and no that wasn't planned, it's the shirts they like to ride their bikes in.