Race Report: 2011 TBi Copperas Cove Classic Road Race

Photos by PhotoWolfe

Team Bicycles, Inc, puts on one of the first road races of the year just outside of Copperas Cove, about one and a half hours north of Austin. In its 11th year, the event is a well-oiled machine, with a large support crew and a lead and follow car for each race. Hundreds of cyclists from all over the state show up to put their winter training regimen to the test on a 54-mile or 83-mile loop (depending on category) through rural, rolling central Texas farmland.

Last Saturday, January 22, the weather was surprisingly balmy, warming steadily through the morning and into the 50s by race end. Predictably, it was windy – in this exposed terrain, you can rest assured that whatever breeze you're getting, you're getting all of it. ATC's three embedded reporters (yes, they ride among you) give you the inside scoop on the Pro 1/2/3, Women's Open, and Men's 5 races.

Pro 1/2/3

A field of 100 rolled out onto the course at 10am, with roughly 10 pros, including 2009 British National Road Race champion Kristian House, multiple New Zealand elite road and time trial champion Heath Blackgrove, and Pat McCarty, member of the Slipstream team that won the team time trial in stage one of the 2008 Giro d'Italia. The race was pretty tame in the beginning, our correspondent from team Bazaarvoice says, with an early move of three going in the first 10 miles. The field stayed together until mile 30, when cross winds shredded the pack and created a big split. A group of 40 remained until they hit the same stretch on the second lap of the course at mile 55. At this point the winds wreaked total havoc, and a group of eight led with a gap of 30 seconds on the second echelon of 20 riders. Our correspondent, missing the break, was stuck in the second group. He attempted a few gallant solo efforts to get across, twice getting within 10 seconds, but in the end lacked the bionic power needed to reach the eight-man posse of international super studs. Despite repeated efforts by the second group to bridge the gap, they held steady at 30 seconds behind for the rest of the race. And a headwind on the rollers heading back into town kept the pack on our correspondent's wheel, who took a flyer with 1k to go, but with the last 500 meters downhill, found himself swarmed at the line. Think our protagonist was discouraged? Au contraire – in Texas there's a race every weekend from February 4 to October 10, and 33 weekday crits in between, so he's just looking forward to the next one. Not to mention McCarty and House are rumored to be heading to Europe soon...

1. Heath Blackgrove, Elbowz Racing
2. Kristian House, Rapha Condor
3. Jonathan McCarty
4. Tyler Jewell, Elbowz Racing
5. Joseph Schmalz, Elbowz Racing

 Women's open

The Lead Women's Open Pack

The women's race was originally scheduled to start with the cat 3/4 men, but with a field of 12, they were able to take off separately. The race thinned out quickly, with a pack of seven duking it out until the very end. Our female correspondent lacks the prestige and experience of our man in 1/2/3 - in fact, this was her first official road race. But, proudly sporting the ATC jersey, she was determined to show that her tri-roots would not prevent an intelligent victory. She forgot the sage advice she had received, however, every time she made it to the front - "The scenery just looks so much better from up here," she was thinking, and also, "Wow, I feel fast." Having experienced a modicum of success in time trialing, our correspondent takes off on a solo breakaway with two miles to go (or so she thinks – we will never know for sure, since the previous day her husband had bought her a fancy fork instead of a bike computer). Her logic? Where's the guts or glory in sprinting the last few yards to the finish for a millisecond victory? Well. That sort of tri-thinking, my friend, is the difference between first and fifth place. Our foolish triathlete, who managed to bolster rather than refute the negative stereotype, was caught shortly after the 1k marker and soundly spanked at the finish line. Congrats to bike stud Jenn Mix of 787 Racing for the victory!

1. Jennifer Mix, 787 Racing
2. Shannon Gaffney
3. Megan Baab, FCS/Metro Volkswagen

Men's 5b

Spot The Dillo in Cat5

There was no shortage of cat 5s – the field was split into a 4/5 (75-participant) and a 5b (50-participant) group. "For those that are new, the term 5b is an old promoter's term, meaning we filled up the first 5 pack (early in the season) and we need another," writes race director Andy Hollinger. "It does not mean the slow 5s or the second class 5s or anything negative...really." This was made abundantly clear by Pink Helmet Man. Now, our ATC triathlete correspondent, also a first-time road racer, had intended to play it smart for his race, as well. But he's not the type of tortoise who'll let a rabbit go, even if that rabbit splits the cat 5bs in half about 10 miles in, and then keeps up the random, grueling breakaways throughout without seeming to ever tire. Pink Helmet Man looks at our triathlete, who had foolishly worked with him on the first futile breakaway, and says, "Hey, so you're one of those tri guys, right?" Our correspondent nods, and Pink Helmet Man smiles. "Well then have at it," he says, gesturing ahead. But our triathlete politely declines. On Harmon Road, Pink Helmet Man and another rider split the group yet again. This time the triathlete has no legs for the chase, so our correspondence abruptly ends. What was the finale at the line? How did Pink Helmet man fare? Post a comment below if you would like to reveal his real identity. And somebody please cat that man up, says our triathlete, who appears, more than 48 hours later, to still be out of breath...

update:Pink Helmet Man is Wiley Mosley!

1. Daniel Ramirez, Cyclone Cycles
2. Arthur Cowsen Jr., Velossimo Racing
3. Wiley Mosley, North American Velo
4. James Perrin
5. Mike Panozzo

As always, thanks for reading! "Like" us on Facebook, and you'll get updates from Adam when the blog is posted. We do race reports, profiles, specials, and more every Sunday/Monday.

All photos are courtesy of Andrew Wolfe Photography. Enter your contact info at PhotoWolfe.com and Andrew will email you when your photos are online.


And now for the correspondent-less categories:

Men's 3/4:

1. David Milham, Nick Lopez Tailoring Cycling Team
2. Grady Hodge, Alchemy Racing Team
3. Frank Cusimano, Dallas Racing
4. Brandon Martin, Team La S'port
5. Kyle Anderson, Wichita Falls Bicycling Club

Men's 4-5s:

1. John Wilmeth, Woodlands Cycling Club
2. Sean Sullivan, Velossimo Racing
3. Alexander Gibson, Dallas Racing
4. Michael Adams, TBarM Camps Racing
5. Richard Linebaugh, Team Bicycles Inc.

40+:

1. Will Ross, Team Hotel San Jose
2. Cord Offermann, Austin Bikes/Revenant
3. Michael Brown, McKinney Velo Club
4. Clay Hobson, McKinney Velo Club
5. Eric Warnsman, Bicycle-Heaven

Complete Results

The (Real) Life of the Pros, Part 1:Jeff Symonds & the Austin Longhorn 70.3

The glamorous life of a pro athlete – swanky hotels, traveling first-class, wining and dining, getting paid thousands of dollars to wear questionable fashion items, fending off hordes of the opposite sex. Right. We're not talking about the same sport, are we? You forgot the prefix "tri."

Jeff Symonds crushing dreams on his Cannondale Slice

Not to say that there aren't a (very) few million-dollar makers out there. If you work your way up to the top, if you are the fastest guy or gal, then you'll be making enough to get air-lifted to the start line. But if you're among the 99% aspiring to be that one? Then your expenses are partially funded, at best, and you're driving four hours to the U.S./Canada border to avoid international airfare, sleeping in your car the night before your flight, and arriving at the Austin airport, groggy as hell, to meet a potential ax murderer for a week-long homestay.

Jeff Symonds, 26-year-old pro triathlete from Penticton, Canada, came to Texas for the Longhorn 70.3 last October. A native of the city that has hosted Ironman Canada longer than he's been alive, and a fast runner to boot, the question might be how could he not have embraced the sport? At the 2008 ITU Pan American Championships he was 7th overall and top under 23 elite finisher (earning himself a spot in the ITU World Championships in Vancouver), and in 2009, he was 2nd at the Canadian National Championships and 2nd at the Lake Stevens IM 70.3. In 2010, he won the Vancouver IM 70.3, placed 6th with the fastest run split at the Oceanside 70.3, and capped off the year with a 13th place finish at the World Championships. He has raced as a pro for three years, and his sponsors include Cannondale, Blue Seventy, Adidas, and Eload, with more to be announced soon. Jeff is coached by Kevin Cutjar of Impact Multisport, and races about once every three weeks. Sounds serious, right? Little did Jeff know he would be facing his fiercest opponent yet right here in Austin, in what he'd assumed to be domestic age-grouper tranquility.

Meet Lazarus. Laz's pedigree is not as impressive. He was an alley cat, abandoned by his mother, who also possibly (that is to say, the fact was not proven in a court of law) dropped him off a carport roof shortly after birth. Having a neurological disability, Laz is not the most intelligent or agile creature, but he is quite unpredictable...and large. Weighing in at approximately 17 pounds (and appearing somewhat larger, due to five of those pounds being fur), he is a formidable foe for any houseguest, particularly on late-night, half-conscious bathroom visits. When the unsuspecting visitor decides to exit the facilities, Laz is often crouched and waiting, just beyond peripheral vision, as said visitor emerges. He will then, releasing an unearthly yodel reminiscent of the Grim Reaper come to carve out your soul with a rusty scythe, go after your bare calves with his claws.

"He's kind of a like an alligator," explains the cat lady. "He can only run fast in a straight line." So Jeff spends the week traveling across his homestay diagonally, worrying not just about the race he's shelled out airfare and expenses for, but about the murder-cat that wants nothing more than to drink his blood and wear his earlobes as a trophy.

Now, to be fair, hosts can get a bad adopt-a-pro, too. The pro can eat only raw vegetables, for instance, or bring home loose women. But most of the time pros are about as tame as they can get. Often the pro doesn't date, go out to bars, drink coffee, or engage in high risk activities like water skiing or eating chocolate peanut butter ice cream. Most of the time he just wants to rest up for the race – it is his job, after all, even if it's not a high-paying one.

Not yet, Jeff would say. "The challenge is that you need money to train and race and you need to train and race to get money," he says. "So the problem is how you start the cycle. I've viewed the first few years of my career similar to how a college or university student would. I am paying my dues now so that I can set myself up for a career later." The sacrifices, he says, are just a part of that.

Pros don't choose triathlon because it fits their life; they choose their life because it fits with triathlon. Often they work jobs that don't match their degree or long-term plans because the job gives them the flexibility to train. It could be said, too, that they choose their partnerships in the same manner. How many wives or husbands who aren't athletes themselves could put up with someone who has to train multiple times every day? Or who wears compression socks out to dinner, and goes through strange dietary shifts depending on race schedules and the phases of the moon? And we won't broach the topic of holidays, vacations, or other special events. (Spouses of athletes: Did your Significant, Tri-Obsessed Other run, bike, or swim on the day of your wedding? Join the club...and then confess you did the same thing yourself.)

It takes a certain degree of determination – some say insanity – to be a pro triathlete. Beyond the difficulties of a shoestring budget, a pro stretches mind and body to the limit at every race, is constantly tearing and breaking things and waiting just long enough for them to heal before breaking them again, and is giving everything, everything for a pie-in-the-sky kind of goal that only one or two competitors are ever lucky enough to get a taste of, much less eat. And normalcy, dignity? Any good pro relinquishes that with his last 40oz and pint of Häagen Dazs.

Jeff, as a runner for his university team, once completed a 5000-meter race in the most vulnerable state a man can experience, short of a personal appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show. "I put my race shorts on and my track suit over top. It wasn't until two minutes before the start that I realized a hole had formed in my shorts." But Jeff started the race anyway, in hopes that the goods wouldn't succumb to gravity, and if they did, that no one would notice. Lap 2...people are saying "wait, did I just see what I think I did?" By lap 4, "Yep, totally." And by the 8th lap? They brought out the video cameras. And Jeff, never living this moment in race history down, got second in what was described as a "ballsy" effort. "That," he says, "is as undignified as it gets."

It stands to reason that such a man could face the indomitable Laz and win. Imagine the scene of battle... The indigenous age groupers have already left for the morning, and the house is dark. Jeff enters the windowless garage to retrieve his gear for the pre-race meeting. As his eyes adjust, he notices an irregularly shaped mass on top of his GPS unit, the machinery that is his only hope of getting to the race site in this foreign land. Then he hears the familiar, ululating warning call. The opponents stare each other down from across the room, Jeff's hand twitching like a gunfighter. A lesser man would have thrown in the towel right then and there, but Jeff, a man of action, chooses his weapon. He cautiously approaches the spitting, hissing Laz...and pokes him with a plastic bike pump.

What occurs next is the subject of legend. As Jeff runs for cover, Laz streaks out of the room like a ball of howling, hairy lightning, and when the smoke clears, the Garmin is free. There's a moment of awed silence...and then Jeff (not one to gloat, we suppose) exits as quickly as possible.

Gettin' Ugly Out There

Jeff came in fifth at the Longhorn 70.3, making the pay cut and the podium in spite of his many battle scars and late-night defensive maneuvers, and it was, in truth, an amazing thing to see. Age groupers are used to their plodding compatriots. Spectating to watch the pros, you don't have to wait long between stages before you see them back in transition. They're running sub six-minute miles, biking over 25 miles an hour, and swimming a pace of under 1:20 per 100 meters. In short, they're accomplishing more than your poorly trained, creampuff physique could ever begin to handle. Jeff is right with the lead pack for the whole race, and the normally reserved, quiet cat lady is jumping up and down like a ferret on ketamine.

There is one positive aspect of pro triathletes being poorly paid and under appreciated. It makes them human. You can talk to them. You can see them in action without paying $400 for a ticket. You can welcome them into your home. You can invite them out on a ride or a run (at your own peril, mind you). You can take your pro out to a BBQ joint – his first truly authentic Texas experience, he says – and listen to him talk about the race as if it was something he did every day (this is because he does, or nearly so) but in a way that still resonates with something like reverence. Because, you see, no pro ever does it – or at least, doesn't start doing it – for the money. He, or she, does it for the purest love one can ever conjure up – the love of moving stroke by stroke, pedal by pedal, stride by stride to a finish line that is always one race ahead, always a dream that is won by pure, hard, persistent effort.


Thank you, Jeff Symonds, for your inspiration. You're welcome back any time.

Jeff Symond's Sponsors

• Adidas
• Blue Seventy
• Reynolds Cycling
• Eload/Emend
• Endurance Planner
• Cannondale
• The Bike Barn
• Impact Multisport
• Northwave
• Peach City Runners
• Supporting the Dream Legacy Fund

ULTRA PROVOCATORIO INVITATIONALE

Ultra Race Recap Video
It's a crisp, cloudless morning, and ATC's parking lot is filled with startlingly provocatorio men be-coveralled and be-squareglassed (and fierce-looking nonetheless). Every two minutes, teams of five ride off into the sunrise with cue sheets in pocket, ready to traverse the recently revealed route of 100 miles. This, mio amico, is Wooly Mammoth's 1st Ultra Provocatorio Invitationale, sponsored by the Law Office of Bradley Houston, Tacodeli, DNA Distributing, Specialized, Velocite, and yours truly, the illustrious and magnifico ATC.

Race participants hail from far and wide. Handsome five-somes of Wooly Mammoths, Bicycle Sport Shopians, Shamas, VC Legends, Bicycle Intellectuals, Party Timers, and more streak down the route from Lamar to Southwest Parkway to Fitzhugh and out to the middle-of-nowhere-are-we-still-even-in-Texas countryside.

ATC's team is composed of seven participants, who though having exchanged many an emailed excuse in the preceding weeks, are all re-committed to competition on race morning. Pro triathletes Brandon and Amy Marsh lead the team, with stragglers Corey May, George Schmitz, Missy Ruthven, Jack Mott, and Kat Hunter bringing up the (somewhat distant) rear. This team, with its two ambiguous alternates, has no illusions -- since the finishing time is determined by the team's last finishers rather than its first, the glory will not be in winning the race, but in completing it.

And this is harder than one might expect. Though sunny, it's cold and windy, and the juniper trees are releasing clouds of chalk-like pollen that coat the tongue (extra calories, or bodily invasion?) and inspire sporadic fits of sneezing. Some parts of the route are very narrow and winding, and when teams catch or pass one another, fast-moving packs of jumbled kits form, a giant amoeba tightening and expanding like an accordion. At the back of such a group, two intrepid ATCers meet their match at a low-water crossing. (Three-time IM champion Amy, seeing the carnage in front of her, wisely walks her bike across the raging trickle.) The pack pauses briefly to survey the damage, and finding that no limbs or bodily organs are lost, moves on. To the friendly fellow who said, "Ah, it's the triathletes": Where's the love? Are you jealous of our superior bike-handling skills and aerodynamics? Keep up the mockery and we'll request that next year's route include a 2.4-mile swim.

In addition to the challenges of the course and staying upright, trying to keep up with Brandon and Amy Marsh may very well be considered a health hazard in itself. This futile attempt lasts until the 50-mile checkpoint, where after filling up on food, water, and bellyaching, in typical triathlete fashion the ATCers split up. Brandon and Amy reach the speed of light, George is eaten by dragons near Dripping Springs, Corey begins a solo race, and Missy, Kat, and Jack are slowed by mechanical problems (yes, the other competition lucked out -- only such mechanical problems could prevent total domination).

And the race organizers add a touch of sadism at mile 90 -- Lost Creek and its infamous hills are part of the return route. But some of the pain and agony (SOME) is made up for at the Tacodeli finish, where there's free beer, cheap tacos, and a raffle for great prizes, including a brand new, sparkling set of carbon wheels donated by DNA Distributing.

The Ultra Provocatorio might perhaps be better termed the Ultra Purgatorio, but we'll wait until we find an Italian dictionary to submit our suggestion to the committee.

So how do you sign up next year? Work on your ultraness by making large donations to the Wooly Mammoth cycling team and establishing yourself as the greatest cyclist who ever lived. Or, well, just email Chris Trickey and beg.

See you out there. And stay tuned for Wooly Mammoth's video documentary of the event.

Congrats to the winners:

1st place: The Elegant Bastards, captained by Eardie Curry
2nd place: Squadra Delliziosa, captained by Alex Rodriguez
3rd place: The Woodsmen, captained by Brant Speed (and featuring four 15 year olds from Houston)

And many thanks to the providers of schwag and tasty things:

Austin Tri-Cyclist, Barrett's Coffee, Bakerman's, Pure Austin, Specialized, Holland Racing, Rack Outfitters, North by Northwest, and Chad Hodges of DNA Distributing

Thanks to Melinda Steele for the excellent photography

2011 is upon us

A selection of January-March area races. Wishing you good luck, good health, and burning quads in the New Year!

Jan. 8, Austin
Team Wooly Mammoth Ultra Provocatorio Invitationale
A 100-mile, highly provocatorio team time trial for 5 brave compadres, and yes, all 5 complete the 100-mile mystery course.
Event Website

Jan. 8, Leander
Buddy Du
Not your average du - teams of 2 work together for 8 miles and 10 obstacles.
Event Website

Jan. 22, Bastrop
Big Chill Adventure Sprint /or/ Big Chill Adventure Race
Run, bike, and paddle. The sprint version is 2-4 hours and designed with the beginner in mind; the other race, meant for the hardened adventurer, is 12-18 hours.
Event Website

Feb. 19, Calaveras Lake (San Antonio)
Calaveras Duathlon
5k Run/21 Mile Bike/5K Run Or 2KRun/10.5Mile Bike/2K Run. Look for team ATC at this race!
Event Website

Mar. 5, Burnet
Eco Lonestar Adventure Race (Sport or Extreme)
Mountain biking, trail running, paddling, and mystery events; choose between the 4-hour (Sport) race or the 8-12 hour (Extreme) race.
Event Website

Mar. 5, Austin
Muddy Outlaw 5k Dash /or/ Muddy Outlaw Chainring Challenge
Embrace your inner Jesse James with a 3.1-mile trail run or a 7-mile (mountain) bike through the roughest and toughest obstacles of the Old West.
Event Website

Mar. 12, Manor
The Cronometro
A 12-mile time trial that starts at a bona fide Ghost Town. One nasty climb and a great way to find out if all that time on the trainer this winter is working.
Event Website

Mar. 13, Seguin
Blue Norther Duathlon
An ATC tradition, it’s one of the best dus (if not THE best) in South Texas, and the competition is fierce. 5k run, 14 mile bike, 5k run. Registration is open now.
Event Website

Mar. 26, Pflugerville
Champions Triathlon & Du
Sprint and Olympic distances, with relay and individual options.
Event Website

Mar. 27, Fredericksburg
Enchanted Rock Extreme Duathlon
Ever walked up Erock? Try it at a dead sprint. Five-mile trail run, 16-mile bike, and a run to the top of the Big Rock. Registration opened today (be warned: this race is capped and fills up fast).
Event Website

Fast Mamas

Athletes are hardworking people. They wake up odd hours, train in the cold and rain, torture themselves with the second hand of the clock. They go to work with wet hair and wrinkled pants and half-shaved faces and legs because they had a flat that morning, or their run was feeling so good they decided to go a few miles farther than usual… They break bones and tear ligaments and sprain ankles and bust knees. And whatever else you can say about them, one thing always holds true—serious athletes put in hours (and hours and hours) of training time to be as fast as they are.

Now add to that a few children with interests of their own—the swim meets, the soccer games, the theater practice, and all the precursors, too, the diaper changing and feeding and waking up in the middle of the night. Being a parent is equal to, if not more than, a full-time job. It would seem impossible to be both a mother and a competitive athlete.

But let us introduce you to four women who make it work, just a few of the many “fast mamas” here in Austin.

Missy Ruthven, 43 – triathlete:

Missy, helmswoman of Austin Tri-Cyclist and mother of two, said triathlon first peaked her interest in 1984 when she saw “the infamous” Julie Moss crawl to the finish line of the Hawaii Ironman. A high school track and cross-country runner at the time, Missy went on to run track for the University of Texas in San Antonio for four years. After graduating in 1990, she entered her first tri and loved it, despite dog-paddling through most of the swim. A year later she won her age group in Du Worlds, and in 1995 her and Don’s honeymoon in Cancun was capped by a third-place age-group finish at that year’s Du Worlds. In addition to many other overall wins and a year competing as a pro duathlete, she qualified for Kona at the half-ironman in Panama City, Florida, in 1998, and at Kona placed fourth in her age group, narrowly losing third in a sprint finish. And those are just the highlights of Missy’s race resumé. She concentrates on local races now, and is first-place finisher at many of them.

Missy and Don have lived in Austin for 18 years, and both work full-time at ATC. Their two daughters, Emily and Taylor, are 10 and 13.

Betty Hodges, 44 – cyclist, triathlete:
Betty is another well-known athlete in Austin—at road races and criteriums her name on the roster means you’ve got your work cut out for you if you expect to finish anywhere near the front. But Betty got started only about four years ago. When she quit smoking at 39, a friend suggested she train for a marathon. She did, followed by a few half marathons, then a sprint-triathlon just after her 40th birthday. Her bike split was encouraging, so she began competing in road races, crits, and time trials. This past year she won Cat 3 overall at the Tour of Austin, also setting the fastest female TT time of the day in any category. In 2009, she was training for her first Ironman, but developed a femoral stress fracture that put her on crutches for three months, and sidelined her from running for another three after that. Depending on the time of year, you’ll find Betty, back in good health, out racing at the Driveway or in other cycling events or triathlons nearly every weekend. She races on the Woolly Mammoth team, sponsored by ATC.

Betty has lived in Austin for 30 years and is currently a full-time student of nursing. Her two daughters, Anna and Grace, are 16 and 18.

Maggi Finley, 37 – triathlete
Maggi and her husband Dustin are recent additions to Austin’s triathlon community, moving here from Memphis, Tennessee, in August. Maggi was a cross-country runner in high school, and she and her husband have been racing together in triathlons since 1997. They were members of the Memphis racing team “Los Locos” for 10 years. From the last two years, race highlights for Maggi include winning first overall amateur in the New Orleans 70.3 in 2009 and 2010, second overall amateur at the Memphis in May Triathlon in 2009 and 2010, and second overall amateur at the Buffalo Springs 70.3 in 2010. Maggi won her bike, a Blue carbon fiber TT bike, at Nationals in 2009 with the fastest bike split, and was Tennessee state time trial champion in 2009. She also raced in Kona this year. (On the Saturday ATC ride, just try to hang on to her wheel and see how long you last.)

Maggi is a pediatric occupational therapist. Her daughters Molly, Sophie, and Brigid, are nine, six, and five.

Jen Stewart, 39 - runner:
Jen has lived in Austin since she attended law school at the University of Texas in 1997, moving here from Galveston. “I used to complain about three-mile runs along the seawall,” she says, but when she met runner and future-husband Andy Stewart she decided to impress him by signing up for the NYC marathon. (It worked, we’re guessing.) After that she was hooked, and in her first five years of competing ran two to three marathons a year and most of the races in the Austin Distance Challenge. Jen has completed about 20 marathons. Her last competitive marathon was the California International in 2008, where she came within less than a minute of her personal best from 2003 (3:10). This year will be her fourth stint as a pacer for the Austin Marathon.

Jen works full-time for the Texas Legislative Council as a drafting attorney for the Texas Legislature. Her daughter Maggie is almost five years old.


Scheduling
The biggest challenge, the fast mamas agree, is scheduling. Even for Betty, whose children are older, finding the time to train can be difficult. “I thought I would have no trouble fitting it all in,” Betty says. “Even though my daughters live with their Dad, finding a way to fit in their events as well as my own training and events is a real struggle.” She says when she first started competing, her daughters helped her focus by being her motivation to get up early to train. Many fast mamas squeeze in a workout in the wee hours of the morning or on their lunch breaks.

Missy still makes her workouts a priority, but says that having children has required her to focus on the quality of a workout, and to be more flexible if her plans have to change suddenly. For example, if she has to miss a scheduled workout because of a “kid thing,” like an illness or event or even if her daughters just don’t want Mom to leave right then, Missy finds another time to fit in her training. And since she doesn’t have a whole day free, she makes sure that each workout has a particular goal. “The challenge of triathlon and having a family is that triathlon is three sports,” Missy says. “There’s more training time required, and the races are difficult or even impossible to participate in if you don’t have someone to watch your kids.” She says that given her daughters’ current ages, however, she’s in a good stage now—her work schedule is flexible, and she’s usually able to train while they are at school.

Jen says her daughter Maggie is used to her parents “being stinky.” She says, “When she plays with her toys and is using her imagination the parents in her imaginary scenario will often have gone running or are getting ready to go running. If she asks where Andy or I are in the morning and we ask her to guess she’ll say ‘running.’” Jen has a scheduling advantage that most mothers don’t, in that her own parents have a house directly behind hers, and are often available to watch Maggie. But Jen works for the legislature, so she’s got another big commitment to worry about. “Between January and June of every odd year work takes over my life and I don’t run much,” she says. “Then I spend the next 18 months getting back into shape. The people I run with in the fall of the even-numbered years are not the same people I run with in the fall of the odd years. I get to run with a lot of people that way!”

Maggi and her husband work out early in the morning, take turns watching their daughters, and get babysitters occasionally so they can do a long ride together on the weekend. Before they moved, in addition to working full-time, they were also volunteering—Dustin was coaching a middle school football team, and Maggi their local cross-country team. “I think doing all of this before we started a family just made it a part of our lives and that didn’t change when the girls came along,” Maggi says. “Our schedules always included training, so it wasn’t a matter of fitting it in for us—it’s just a part of who we are.”

Pregnancy
The fast mamas didn’t let pregnancy slow them down (or at least not for long). Most kept training, and some did a few low-intensity races. When Missy was pregnant with her second child, and also resting in an attempt to heal a hip injury, she focused on swimming. “This is when I really learned to love swimming,” Missy says. Jen did strides when she found herself missing sprints, and did a lot of trail-running and runs with friends. In addition to running and swimming, Maggi spent a lot of time on an indoor trainer. “I would have probably killed someone before I delivered if I hadn’t been able to work out during pregnancy, and it surely made for an easier comeback after,” Maggi says.

The future of triathlon?
Plenty of kids are pushed into sports they don’t really enjoy. The fast mamas we’ve profiled seem to take the “find your own path” approach. Missy says her oldest daughter likes yoga and skateboarding, but doesn’t have much interest in triathlon; her youngest likes to bike, and will sometimes bike with Missy when she runs. “But I don’t push them into doing any of the sports,” Missy says. “I just give them opportunities to do them and maybe they will pick them up later.”

Betty’s daughters swim. With a hint of pride, she says that both can swim circles around her. Her youngest daughter recently did the swim leg of a tri relay with her. Her oldest is training for her first triathlon. Similarly, Maggi’s daughters swim, and “are excited about pretty much any activity they can get into.” They did their first tri this fall and won the “cutest kids division.” They also frequently go with Maggi and her husband to races. “They love the adventure of getting up while it’s still dark, eating breakfast in the car, getting as dirty as possible at any venue, dancing at the post race parties, and passing out in the car on the way home.” Maggi shakes her head. “Of course, I’m sure in another year or two this will end and sleep will be more important.”

Maggie Stewart, at five, isn’t training for anything just yet. However, we hear she swims “like a fish.” In another decade or so, no doubt we’ll be seeing all of these kids in the top three (of whatever they decide to do) as much as their moms.

Support
What’s the most important thing for a fast mama, hands down? Having someone around who knows why she’s out there doing what she does. So tell all the tri-moms you know how much you admire them…and then maybe offer some free child-care. We hear they like that.

Special thanks to the “fast mamas” for taking time out of their very busy training schedules to answer these questions.

[Know some fast papas? We want to feature a few stellar tri-dads. Send your nominations to info@austintricyclist.com]

The 12 Things Your Triathlete Wants for Christmas

Since training is just about all your IRON-MAHN (or WOMAHN*, as the case may be) thinks about, it’s hard to give him anything but triathlon gear for Christmas. But what to get? The rosy-cheeked, cheerful fellows at Austin Tri-Cyclist are here to help.

Warm Cycling Wardrobe - because Austin winters are brutal

Avalanches, snow drifts, abominable snowhippies…it’s a dangerous season. But we’ve got all the essentials for cold-weather cycling, including gloves, balaclavas, arm warmers, windbreakers, tights, and shoe covers. Get the right gear and end the kvetching. (Wool socks make good stocking stuffers.)

Tune-up – one less road pizza

Ah, the deathtrap. Your triathlete doesn’t need an MP3 player when his bike already makes as much noise as Waylon Jennings. Get him a tune-up to stop the wailing and to ensure that gears are shifting properly, cables are in good shape, and the frame and components are free of grime. Salt (aka, hard-earned sweat) and road grime on his drivetrain will make his bike wear out faster, and mechanical problems can send him flying down Jester or Big View with nothing to slow him down save the asphalt. A thorough tune-up from ATC is only $40 (winter special price, good until Jan. 15).

Indoor Trainer - because he’s afraid of the dark

In the winter it can be hard to fit in a ride outside. We’ve got Kurt Kinetic, CycleOps, and Blackburn brand trainers in stock. Now he has no excuse. Rainy? Dark? No problem. Using an indoor trainer is also a good way to do structured intervals without having to worry about traffic, hills, or getting chicked.

Gels, Gu, Powerbars – great for stockings

More exciting than candy canes. ‘Nuff said.

Tires – because you’re sick of rescuing his stranded derrière

You don’t want to leave him out there, helpless in his spandex-and-helmet ensemble, but one day you’re going to do it. Before that day comes, consider getting him new tires. We carry puncture-resistant Gatorskins, great for training and commuting, and the GP4000s, good all-around racing and training tires. We also have plenty of pure racing tires in stock like the Vittoria Open Corsa Evo CX (320tpi version), one of the fastest tires on the market. Choose what suits him best, but whatever you pick, make sure for your own sake that you get him a flat kit, too.

Total Triathlon Almanac 5 –
because Paula Newby-Fraser says so

Here’s a year-long training companion who’ll never complain about early mornings or stinky running shoes. It’s a logbook and training guide all rolled (compactly) into one, with contributors that include Mark Allen, Thomas Hellriegel, Joy Leutner, Paula Newby-Fraser, and Dave Scott, just to name a few. If your triathlete doesn’t know who these personalities are, we suggest a different resource for him—perhaps a set of encyclopedias.

Timex GPS Watch – a subtle way to tell your loved one to pick up the pace

If he’s slacking, he’ll know. This watch measures pace, speed, and distance, and has a number of other magical data-collecting powers, including a heart rate monitor and software that can be used to download times and routes for training review.

Wetsuits – it’s sink or swim faster

We carry Nineteen, De Soto, Zoot, Rocket Science, and 2XU wetsuits, all 20 percent off in the winter. A wetsuit can make a big difference in swim times, as much as 10 seconds per 100 meters. And though a wetsuit may look funny hanging in his closet next to his suit and khakis, think of all the superheroes who’ve had the same multiple-identity problem. You’ll have to come up with a pseudonym: Seal-Boy? Robo-fish?

ATC Jersey/ Shirt – do it for the dillo

You’re supporting your local tri shop, and really, does it get any more fashionable than this? Just look at those sporty, sunburst colors—the vibrant yellow, the delicate orange. And best of all, the Dillo will strike fear in the hearts of all competitors. They may never be the same. In fact, they might not even make it through bodymarking.

Cycling Shorts - because you’ve seen enough

You know someone who needs these. You’re all too familiar with the contours of his backside through his transparent outerwear. This is more a Christmas present for yourself than for the receiver. (You’ll be able to draft again!) In fact, you don’t even have to give this as a present. Just throw away the old shorts and replace them with the new ones. Sorry man, it was…Santa Claus?

Compression gear – a new kind of fashion

If there’s an event in town, you’ll see the pros out in their full compression duds, said to aid in recovery, improve blood circulation, and reduce muscle vibration. We’ve got all the gear, including compression shirts, pants, and socks.

DZ Nuts Chamois Cream – because you care about the important things

Today’s athletes face many threats, from the rigors of cycling to the hazards of the airport. (See Universal Sports’ tweet of the week, from Dave Zabriskie himself: "Checked in at LAX...tsa really does touch the junk...lucky for me I'm in the junk protection business.") Get your triathlete a little chamois protection. (The packaging won’t let you down. This is a great gift for a triathlete with a sense of humor.)

A gift certificate to Austin Tri Cyclist – because this is way too much decision making

Check out our online store, and click “gift certificate.”



Happy holidays from your local tri shop!

* We only say “he” because that’s easier, and also, more grammatically correct than “their.” Our apologies!

IRONMAN ARIZONA, the Stroobandt Story

[at left, pre-race: Adam Stroobandt, ATC sales manager, and his wife, Rita, schoolteacher and volunteer track coach]

The day is 60-something degrees and rainy. Timo Bracht is leading the first part of the run, head to head with Jordan Rapp, and Chrissie Wellington is riding a flat through her last six miles of the bike course. Age-groupers are strung out behind the pros like a line of plodding ants, most expecting to see the full moon before the finish line. Austin Tri-Cyclist’s fearless Team Stroobandt, husband-and-wife pair Adam and Rita, are just starting their second loop of the bike.

But we can’t begin here. Like any good epic, the Stroobandt story must commence with a tale of adversity. And we’re not just talking about how, in July, Tempe Town Lake’s inflatable dam popped like a toddler’s floatie, nor how, as a result, the race was threatening to start with a breaststroke through the sand. Adam (who’s the type of guy who can roll off the couch, brush the potato chips from his shirt, and run a five-minute mile, but swims like your grandmother wearing ankle weights ) would not be so lucky. The gods in their aero helmets, rolling around on their mighty disc wheels in the sky, were not smiling on our protagonists. Truly, the most difficult part of Ironman Arizona for the Stroobandts was just getting there.


The first malevolent celestial intervention (no doubt that it could be anything but) came in September. Adam was on a training ride, speeding along 360, when a large rock scurried, snarling and vicious, out of the grass and stopped right in front of his wheel. His new Cannondale Supersix lost the ensuing battle, and Adam went head over handlebars into a guardrail. (“The good thing was, it stopped me immediately,” our hero says thoughtfully. “So no road rash.”) Passing motorists were convinced that he was toast, but Adam was still with us, having subluxed his left shoulder, separated his AC joint, and torn a few rotator cuff muscles. The doctor took a serious tone. Six weeks before resuming physical activity, he said, but Adam thought that was great—it just happened to be, to the day, six weeks to the Ironman. The doctor looked at him blankly. “Not recommended,” he said.

Meanwhile, Rita’s training was going well. Former varsity track and cross country runner for UTSA, she had the background to make the training a piece of cake. While Adam was lounging on the couch with the cat and a bottle of aspirin, Rita was doing 80- to 100-mile training rides on her shiny red-and-white P3 Cervélo. She was feeling good. She was ready. A few days before the flight to Arizona, she took her bike to ATC for the final to-do’s—she carefully cleaned and polished the frame and parts herself, had new bar tape put on, and switched her training wheels for a pair of Zipps. Race prep done, she drove the car back home. And she drove the P3, attached to the roof, right through the top of the garage…

Any other mortals would have thrown in the towel right then and there, but the cycling deities had underestimated the Stroobandts. With a busted shoulder and a borrowed bike, they made it to Arizona.

Adam had his first post-accident swim on race day. Not able to fully move his shoulder, he swam 2.4 miles with “the claw.” And as if his swim time wasn’t bad enough, he had the further humiliation of being chicked by Chrissie Wellington. Fortunately, with that he wasn’t alone—at eighth overall, Wellington left behind a wake of wounded masculinity that day. Though he and Rita hadn’t specifically planned on meeting up, Adam slowed his pace on the run to wait for her. Rita caught him at mile 23, and they made a nauseatingly cute couple crossing the finish line together. (Or almost together. Technically, Rita won by a second.)

And there the tale ends. Sorry to disappoint, fellow triathletes, but there’s no real moral, only this: If people tell you you’re crazy to do what you do, at ATC you’re in good company. Come into the shop this week and give Adam a big pat on the shoulder!

(And if you happen to crash your Cervélo into the garage? Well, we know where you can find a new one. All the new 2011 Cervélos are in stock, plus we have a sweet package deal on the 2011 Cannondale Slice. For sales items, check out our clearance page. )