Do these kakis make my butt look big? I joked to my daughter. She just rolled her eyes in typical 13 year old girl fashion and walked away. It’s every Dads duty to try and embarrass his daughter in public and I do a fine job of it. My shopping spree was brought on by the eminent threat of being a first time USAT official at the local Elephant man Olympic distance triathlon, in Elephant butte NM. Or as it seems to have become know, the Elf butt. Thus my joke about my butt looking big, humor totally wasted on my daughter. Oh well, I found it amusing.
I needed some non-work kaki colored pants to wear as part of the USAT official dress code. Yes, I’m now a certified USAT Category 4 official. Which means I’m not the lowest of the low (as far as officials go) but pretty low on the ladder of officialdom. But still, I have the uniform, and you know how women love guys in uniform! Haha, yeah that was the big joke, I was going to use my new found power to lure the girls into my evil grasp!
It was a whole different perspective looking at the race as an official and it was lot of fun. The hardest part for me was not getting caught up in the competition, I wanted to talk about strategy, get ready for the race, layout my gear and talk smack. Oh well, there will be plenty of time for that at IMAZ. The coolest part is I got to look at/inspect everyone’s bike and nobody batted an eye. Oh, was I supposed to be looking for safety issues? Yeah that’s what I was supposed to be doing. But it was more like, wow that is an incredible looking bike how does it ride? Or, do you have any problems riding the 808’s in the wind. Yeah safety, that’s why I was looking at the bikes… All joking aside, I was actually pretty serious about looking for safety issues, but there was just so much bike porn!
From a personal perspective I really liked the whole venue. Kori is a fantastic race director, she kept people informed, organized, had plenty of volunteers, the course seemed well marked, and everyone had a super friendly attitude.
The race has just about everything you could want in an Olympic distance race, Medical tent, massage, food, lots of volunteers, A challenging course, open water swim, sand and the best Outlaw aid station money can buy.
Speaking about the aid station, Many thanks to Jane & her people, Misty, Steven, Courtney, Orlando and Connor (who, I think built rock piles?). You guys rocked!
The bike course seems especially challenging. While I haven’t ridden the course I did traverse it multiple times on the motorcycle and I have to say it looks like a lot of fun to ride. The rolling hills, turns, and that climb out of the canyon that looks like it will never end seems like a lot of fun. The run course looked like it had about 2 miles of sand (out and then the same section back) and loose pack which looks like it would really be tough to run.
If you are looking for a good local challenge this might be the race you are looking for. Between the multiple wave swim starts and hills there were virtually no packs of riders or congestion on the bike course. It seems like this race is one of the up and coming must do races for the series.
I needed some non-work kaki colored pants to wear as part of the USAT official dress code. Yes, I’m now a certified USAT Category 4 official. Which means I’m not the lowest of the low (as far as officials go) but pretty low on the ladder of officialdom. But still, I have the uniform, and you know how women love guys in uniform! Haha, yeah that was the big joke, I was going to use my new found power to lure the girls into my evil grasp!
It was a whole different perspective looking at the race as an official and it was lot of fun. The hardest part for me was not getting caught up in the competition, I wanted to talk about strategy, get ready for the race, layout my gear and talk smack. Oh well, there will be plenty of time for that at IMAZ. The coolest part is I got to look at/inspect everyone’s bike and nobody batted an eye. Oh, was I supposed to be looking for safety issues? Yeah that’s what I was supposed to be doing. But it was more like, wow that is an incredible looking bike how does it ride? Or, do you have any problems riding the 808’s in the wind. Yeah safety, that’s why I was looking at the bikes… All joking aside, I was actually pretty serious about looking for safety issues, but there was just so much bike porn!
From a personal perspective I really liked the whole venue. Kori is a fantastic race director, she kept people informed, organized, had plenty of volunteers, the course seemed well marked, and everyone had a super friendly attitude.
The race has just about everything you could want in an Olympic distance race, Medical tent, massage, food, lots of volunteers, A challenging course, open water swim, sand and the best Outlaw aid station money can buy.
Speaking about the aid station, Many thanks to Jane & her people, Misty, Steven, Courtney, Orlando and Connor (who, I think built rock piles?). You guys rocked!
The bike course seems especially challenging. While I haven’t ridden the course I did traverse it multiple times on the motorcycle and I have to say it looks like a lot of fun to ride. The rolling hills, turns, and that climb out of the canyon that looks like it will never end seems like a lot of fun. The run course looked like it had about 2 miles of sand (out and then the same section back) and loose pack which looks like it would really be tough to run.If you are looking for a good local challenge this might be the race you are looking for. Between the multiple wave swim starts and hills there were virtually no packs of riders or congestion on the bike course. It seems like this race is one of the up and coming must do races for the series.
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7 comments:
In answer to your question: yes.
haha, Hey, I didn't really want an answer! Guess I've been doing to many hill repeats. :)
Nice job, ref! I was especially impressed by the fact that you would not except my bribe of $20 ($40?) before the race ;-)
As a ref I still find it difficult to ride on the back of the motorcycle. It must take enhanced butt muscles!
Between the men in uniform thing and eyeing the bike porn, it is amazing you got any officiating done! Well done, even if you are just a plebe.
:)
I did the race and thought it was fabulous! Thanks for the help out there. You should race next year. The bike course was so amazing!
:-)
Jodi
Oh, come on. That IS funny! Teenagers are strange...
;)
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