First triathlon

Looking back at my first triathlon, it doesn't seem so long ago. It was a small race called "I Tried A Triathlon" in Oswego, Illinois, west of Aurora (way west of Chicago). Designed as a very short (250 yard swim, 6.5 mile bike, 2.1 mile run) course event, it is a great way to get your feet wet (pun) in multisport. It was Sunday morning, August 15, 1993, when I first tried a triathlon. The race was so casual, there were no bike racks and the swim was 10 laps in a pool. I did have one small problem though, no bike! I had sold my Fuji road bike 2 weeks earlier and bought a new Specialized bike which was supposed to be delivered the Wednesday before the race. As you guessed it, no bike arrived Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. I had already paid for the race, so I put our Santana tandem bike in the van and drove out there. The race actually went off without incident though I got a lot of strange looks on the bike leg. A local sports newspaper did nominate me for an "overcoming adversity" award and I won a pair of New Balance running shoes! This event did prepare me for my next race two weeks later; the new bike did arrive in time for that one.