The tricky thing about triathlons, Geezer has noticed, is that they all involve three athletic skills: swimming, biking and running. That triplexity makes it hard for those of us with biplex skillsets. What if we can’t swim (well), or bike (fast) or run (for a long time). Fortunately, the editors of Bicycling magazine have pulled together what musicians would call a cheat book for triathletes.
If you don’t swim, the authors advise, the first thing you have to do is stop fighting the water. If you don’t bike, don’t try to adapt your cycling posture to a high performance bike. Stick with what you’re used to. And if you don’t run, get yourself some decent running shoes.
That advice and more awaits struggling triathletes at bicycling.com.
Health, fitness and lifestyle tips for people over 50 who still like to play hard
Sunday, June 1, 2025
My wife signed us up for the “Tri for Fun” in Pleasanton. I thought I could swim – until I got into that murky lake. My crawl hyperventilated away after only 25 meters, and I ended up doing a sidestroke, only to be run over by the women’s group that started 10 minutes behind. Then the bike – we knew we were in trouble when we noticed other people lifing bikes off bike racks with only their index fingers. It took two of us to lug each of our 1960’s pot metal specials over to the start line. On the bike portion, I heard “on your left” so often I began to think it was a political statement. Finally we got to the run- something I could do! I must have passed 300 woment – but never saw another man. Now we have a nickname for the race – we call it “Tri Not to Die.” 🙂 – Scott Swink