I was at the shop and this yahoo, who looks like he is in his late 40's and is in pretty good shape, comes in and asks about changing his gearing so that he can climb better. I ask what gearing he currently has and he shrugs his shoulders and says, "It is a Cannondale System Six." He had no idea, but he thought that the mention of the bike would automatically clue me in to what his exact set up was. No, that info doesn't help, and he just dropped a notch in my eyes. I don't memorize bike specs and also each model comes with different parts spec's so who knows what he has, I sure didn't. But underlying that was this notion that because he has a Cannondale System Six, he had the best out there, because of the way he said it. Anyway, I got past that and gave him some options in case his bike was spec'd with a standard crankset with a 130 BCD or a compact crankset with a 110 BCD. If you don't know the difference, don't worry about it as it is not important in the story. And I also explained the differences in cassettes and why he couldn't use a mountain cassette on his road bike unless he also went with a mountain rear derailleur. Whatever, like I said, it doesn't really matter in this story except that the guy is not a cycling expert, definitely not a PRO sort of guy at all, at least not in the realm of cycling.
But apparently he knows all about triathlons. He purposely let it slip that he was going to do a full Ironman and that it was his second one. He has also done about a dozen half-ironman distance tri's. I told him that my first half ironman distance was going to be this Saturday. He got all excited suddenly. He started asking if I knew about tactics, hydration, nutrition, salt tablets, etc. Then I made the mistake of telling him that I was mainly worried about the swim. I told him about the training I had been doing for the swim and he said I would be fine, but gave me 5 minutes worth of advice anyway. Then he asked about the bike, and I said I wasn't worried about that. Then he said, "What about the run? You look kinda chunky for the run."
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Huh?
What did you just say?
I am sorry, but I don't even know your name and you are already busting on me for being overweight?
Yeah, but he was oblivious to the diss. To him it was just a fact and not a diss. I am fat and I should therefore be worried about the run. Then he just kept going on and on about tri's and his strategies. He then went on to state that sprint and olympic distance tri's were NOT real tri's at all. They were too easy and didn't really push a person.
I asked him what his times were for the Ironman he did and the half ironman events he had done previously. He said he usually finished around 5:45 for the half and he said 13:30 for the full ironman. This just sort of slipped by me until later when I was relating this story to Fish. When I told Fish the story and then related the guy's times he just started laughing. He stated that the guy was slow for a real "triathlete" or pretty average overall. Fish then explained that it was guys like this that give him reason to only say that he does triathlons, instead of saying that he is a triathlete. "Triathletes", he says, tend to be pompous idiots like this guy. That is when I started to wonder if I could beat any of these "triathletes."
Don't know if I can, but that guy lit a fire under my butt. And thus yesterday's post.
To clarify the obvious, I don't have a triathlete's build. I am 6'1" and about 200 lbs. I don't look fat, but I need to lose 20 lbs to get to where I would like to be. But at the same time, I obviously am not dedicated enough to lose it fast because I am not losing very much weight lately, if at all (working at Performance has reawakened my love of fatty hamburgers and french fries with 3 burger place within a 1/4 mile of the shop)
However, if you want to see chubby, look below. This was about 5 years ago soon after the birth of Number One Son. I was almost 40 lbs heavier than I am now
This is a pic from a couple of months ago. I haven't gained or lost much since this pic. Behind me is my younger brother and Number One Son and Number Two Son are also pictured.
Frankly, compared to 5 years ago, I look stellar. It has been a fairly gradual weight loss too, which I feel pretty good about. I would like to get near 180, but for now, I am feeling pretty good. I want to lose more weight and I would definitely feel better if I did. But regardless, the Jerk Triathlete can get bent.
2 comments:
What an ass.
The people who talk up their accomplishments are always the ones who feel insecure about them; people who are actually good/just out to have a fun and race well for themselves never do.
When I saw my podium picture, the first thing I thought was "I shouldn't have worn my kit for this picture." And then "But hey, those thighs won me this race, so what the F ever."
You look like a happy cherub with your wee kid there. That's a cool picture, particularly since it's a touchstone to both your offspring and how much weight you've lost. But drop the burgers, yo! I know, "But they're just so delicious!" Yeah, yeah. Jerk, now I want one.
Working with the public is a Weird Thing. I capped that because it's just that weird. You never know what's going to ooze in under the door. From Taxi Driver: "All the animals come out at night. Queens, fairies, junkies...someday a real rain will come and wash all the trash off the sidewalk." I loved customer service, but loathed it as well. Another song comes to mind, "Spend your cash, then get out. We hate you, but we need you."
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