Triathletes in TOC TT

[Inner Peace]

wtf is the point of all that running and swimming?? running is terrible for your joints, and there's friggin sharks and sewage and whatnot in the ocean... I don't get it.. those people are nuts

The human body evolved to run long distances...

or for the religious, we were intelligently designed to run long distances

...if your joints are stuffed, you are not running properly

The bicycle evolved to move the human body as fast as possible (great invention)

Swimming, is well, the most inferior movement of the human body.. we did not evolve to swim, we just struggle to.

 

[timbat]

Chris McCormack twittered

46:15.Fastest my group and 55th place"

 

[Kender]

51:30 for chrissie apparently

that would put her 31 secs behind last place. still not bad for a female triathlete against specialist cyclists

 

[o2binBuzios]

Humble Pie

OK - I am back to admit the Tri team was pretty well humbled in the TOC TT. One flatted out after t-boning a manhole cover (after almost going over the barriers in a corner), the Editor of Slowtwitch.com crashed and broke a collarbone and the best finisher (Maca) was 55th place. Chrissie coming in within spitting distance of last place guy is about what I'd expected.

I tip my hat to the Pro Peleton...the best Triathletes are below average on a TT with that crowd. If my experience in local group rides is any example - they'd get spit out the back on a tough road stage and be lucky to make the cutoff.

 

[scribe]

^^^I thought the course looked awfully rough on camera.

 

[santacruz]

wowow.. crashed and broke a collar bone?? I knew that course looked really rough on the live feed... tons of bumps and asphalt droppings it looked like.. weird that a manhole cover would flat someone?? something must have been goin on with that cover. That TT course was pretty "wack" as the kids used to say.. so much drafting going on. Better than having triathletes compete, they should have had Cat 5's and Cat 4's competing in a circuit race, DURING the TT, just to spice things up, ha ha. Racing the finest mavic/sram neutral support bikes on offer, lol.

 

[BroDeal]

OK - I am back to admit the Tri team was pretty well humbled in the TOC TT. One flatted out after t-boning a manhole cover (after almost going over the barriers in a corner), the Editor of Slowtwitch.com crashed and broke a collarbone and the best finisher (Maca) was 55th place. Chrissie coming in within spitting distance of last place guy is about what I'd expected.

I tip my hat to the Pro Peleton...the best Triathletes are below average on a TT with that crowd. If my experience in local group rides is any example - they'd get spit out the back on a tough road stage and be lucky to make the cutoff.

Not to wish anyone harm, but there is something pretty hilarious about triathletes living up to the reputation they have among cyclists for bike handling.

I think that we have to take into account that there were a handful of pros who had their eye on victory for the stage or the overall win, so those will have been trying to get a good time. By 55th place the riders may not have been going all out. By last place it was riders who are just making sure that they won't be eliminated.

We should also take into account that this was a mixed peloton with europeans pros and domestic pros. Some of those pros are taking the race easy as they use it for training kilometers. Put the triathletes in a TdF ITT and the results would have been even worse.

A specialsts should be able to kill a generalist.

 

[Martin318is]

True - if you consider how decent level time-trialists (Evans,Wiggan, Vino, etc) were at the Giro at the time you could imagine that the position is actually a bit better than it could have been.

 

[red_flanders]

OK - I am back to admit the Tri team was pretty well humbled in the TOC TT. One flatted out after t-boning a manhole cover (after almost going over the barriers in a corner), the Editor of Slowtwitch.com crashed and broke a collarbone and the best finisher (Maca) was 55th place. Chrissie coming in within spitting distance of last place guy is about what I'd expected.

I tip my hat to the Pro Peleton...the best Triathletes are below average on a TT with that crowd. If my experience in local group rides is any example - they'd get spit out the back on a tough road stage and be lucky to make the cutoff.

That reads like a comic book panel. Hilarious.

In my limited exposure to triathletes in action, I've been absolutely stunned at the lack of bike-handling skill. On the bike leg of the Donner Lake Tri, I must have passed 200 people, MINIMUM on the various downhills. I literally was turning my head in disbelief at people letting themselves lose that much time in a RACE for no reason. I don't understand it.

You could collect 50 people off the street and seemingly have a better group of bike-handlers.

 

[FatBoy]

Oh dear, how insecure are we ?

That reads like a comic book panel. Hilarious.

In my limited exposure to triathletes in action, I've been absolutely stunned at the lack of bike-handling skill. On the bike leg of the Donner Lake Tri, I must have passed 200 people, MINIMUM on the various downhills. I literally was turning my head in disbelief at people letting themselves lose that much time in a RACE for no reason. I don't understand it.

You could collect 50 people off the street and seemingly have a better group of bike-handlers.

How embarrassing this thread is for road-cyclists !? Are you really that insecure that you feel the need to denigrate triathletes ? Do posts like this make you feel good about yourself ?

Of course the pro cyclists are going to hammer the best triathletes on a bike (they are carrying around a lot less upper body mass, specificity etc. etc.) - even in a TT (and especially if it is "short" - i.e. anything under 120km's ..) It's nearly a different sport. I don't see the triathletes hanging s*^ on your respective inability to swim.

Or is the insecurity because elite swimmers and runners beat elite triathletes in those disciplines by a greater percentage ? Threatened, anyone ? Nearly the only sensible comment on this thread was the generalist/specialist closing line earlier (apologies to the poster for not quoting). Let's see what a doped-to-the-eyeballs Pharmstrong can do in Kona before we beat our chests.

In terms of bike handling, the reality is that there is a disturbing trend towards flatter, easier courses in triathlons because everyone wants to go fast. There really is little return in a triathlete investing time in descending skills - they'd be far better off doing an extra long run than venturing up into the hills. However your generalisations are just that: there's plenty of triathletes who can handle a bike just fine too.

As an aside I find it interesting that you spend your time defending most of the pro cyclists as not trying fully etc. etc. while ignoring the fact that the pro triathletes with little to gain may have been doing exactly the same. This was an exercise in PR from TOC (which worked) and certainly not something you can draw any meaningful conclusion from.

Chrissy Wellington is the real deal BTW ... love to see the elite women's roadie's go up against her in a long flat-ish TT.

PS, former roadie, former triathlete, now jsut a sport fan.

 

[red_flanders]

How embarrassing this thread is for road-cyclists !? Are you really that insecure that you feel the need to denigrate triathletes ? Do posts like this make you feel good about yourself ?

Hmmm. Just sharing my experience. If you were secure, you might have laughed. That's what the tri buddies I went to the race with did.

 

[Martin318is]

How embarrassing this thread is for road-cyclists !? Are you really that insecure that you feel the need to denigrate triathletes ? Do posts like this make you feel good about yourself ?

Of course the pro cyclists are going to hammer the best triathletes on a bike (they are carrying around a lot less upper body mass, specificity etc. etc.) - even in a TT (and especially if it is "short" - i.e. anything under 120km's ..) It's nearly a different sport. I don't see the triathletes hanging s*^ on your respective inability to swim.

Or is the insecurity because elite swimmers and runners beat elite triathletes in those disciplines by a greater percentage ? Threatened, anyone ? Nearly the only sensible comment on this thread was the generalist/specialist closing line earlier (apologies to the poster for not quoting). Let's see what a doped-to-the-eyeballs Pharmstrong can do in Kona before we beat our chests.

In terms of bike handling, the reality is that there is a disturbing trend towards flatter, easier courses in triathlons because everyone wants to go fast. There really is little return in a triathlete investing time in descending skills - they'd be far better off doing an extra long run than venturing up into the hills. However your generalisations are just that: there's plenty of triathletes who can handle a bike just fine too.

As an aside I find it interesting that you spend your time defending most of the pro cyclists as not trying fully etc. etc. while ignoring the fact that the pro triathletes with little to gain may have been doing exactly the same. This was an exercise in PR from TOC (which worked) and certainly not something you can draw any meaningful conclusion from.

Chrissy Wellington is the real deal BTW ... love to see the elite women's roadie's go up against her in a long flat-ish TT.

PS, former roadie, former triathlete, now jsut a sport fan.

Chill mate!

The reason the focus is on cycling is because believe it or not but most people reading this forum don't care about running and swimming at all. If a triathlete can out run me then good for them. If they can outswim me then same (although I would be a little annoyed as I used to have a hobby of ocean swimming, but I digress).

The point here is that we have all seen the evidence of scary outcomes from people who came to cycling as triathletes rather than triathlons as cyclists. Some samples of triathletisms I have seen (most quite recently):
* Braking in the EXIT of a corner at front of bunch.
* Looking over the shoulder in the centre of the bunch and swerving in the direction of the look stright into other riders.
* Pedalling in high speed corners and popping the back wheel.
* Failing to brake before sharp turns and going straight on.
* Taking hands off bars and falling straight away.
* Jumping out of saddle to attack and going over the handlebar (no really!)

I think the question is an entirely valid one - If triatheltes spend so much time reading articles about saving time and improving position by managing their transitions process, then surely they can see the benefits of working on their bike handling? And surely anyone can appreciate that you need to work on bunch riding skills if you are going to come out and play in a racing (or training) bunch? That is true no matter how fit you are!

There are plenty of road riders that go through a learning curve when they start road racing and they can cope with it without crying that they are unfairly treated.

 

[theswordsman]

Chrissy Wellington is the real deal BTW ... love to see the elite women's roadie's go up against her in a long flat-ish TT.

PS, former roadie, former triathlete, now jsut a sport fan.

You might get your chance. She's thinking about going for the Time Trial in the 2012 Olympics. I'd love to see it. I'll definitely be watching the Kona Ironman live online again this year. Glad she came back so well from all the broken bones in January.

McCormack finished the 20.9 miles in 46:11, good enough for 56th place overall. Wellington, who has talked about going for a time trial slot in the 2012 Olympics, finished in 50:32

http://triathlon.competitor.com/201...compete-in-tour-of-california-time-trial_9715