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"Petardo"- firecracker, Craft Street, Crestridge Loop, Florida, Harley Quinn, Jean Kneel, Loren Pilka, Rosalinda Escobar, Sean Kneel, Tampa Florida, Tony Kneel, Trinity Florida, Tyler Hinnenkamp, Victarra Drive
NINETY-THREE
Padre’s question concerning who wanted to take their borrowed bikes home in case they wanted to ride Saturday or weren’t likely to make Sunday’s training session had Tyler following McDougall’s lead and he asked if he could take his bike too. Since he’d come with Harley whose car had a bike rack that could accommodate both her Cannondale Quick and the Sequoia Tyler was borrowing Angie wound up being the only one who left her bike with us.
It took until just past 9:00 o’clock to get everyone loaded up and on their way. Harry Adamson, Angie, Sierra, Tyler, Harley, and McDougall headed home in their cars while Rosalind headed south on Crestridge beneath the streetlights on her way back to Victarra Place and her waiting impatiently at home Chihuahua Cerberus.
Everyone except Loren had already headed out as I rolled her bike to her car. “Glad you showed up?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said with a nod as she reached for her bike, “yes, I am. I think this’ll be good.”
“I do too,” I said as I pointed at her bike rack and added, “I got it,” as I bent at the knees and lifted the weighty Cranbrook onto the rack and secured it with inadequate Bungie cords. “You work tomorrow?”
“Yep. I’m in tomorrow night.”
“Me too. See you then,” I said with a smile.
“See you tomorrow,” she smiled back before slipping into the driver’s seat.
Finished with our first training session and having the house all to ourselves again I thanked Padre for providing bikes for our teammates in need for the duration and the three of us agreed to brainstorm together and come up with a list of required and recommended equipment that I would organize into a list and send out as a group text.
Madre, Padre, and I slipped into showers and by 9:10 we’d all bathed, changed out of the sweaty clothes we’d worn for our practice session and slipped into the bare minimum propriety demanded. “Birdcage?” Madre had asked once we were reassembled.
“Perfect,” I replied, a sentiment Padre’s eyeroll indicated he didn’t share. I grabbed paper and a notebook, and we headed out to the birdcage where we could listen to the creatures just beyond our backyard go about their nighttime business protected from bugs that bite while sitting beneath the comfort of the spinning ceiling fan. Once seated I announced, “Well that was a very qualified success,” shaking my head. “Thank you both for all the help. Without you two this would have been a disaster.”
“Well, there’s a lot of moving parts and none of us have ever done this before,” Padre said with a shrug. “You don’t remember when Jean signed me up to be Kevin’s baseball manager when he was in first grade back in Indianapolis. She tells me,” he continued, his voice rising in volume and taking on a purely performative anger, “that she thought the manager was there to help the coach, but nope, not how it works. Worst. Coach. Ever! I had one kid who was pretty good who quit the team after two practices so he could join a real team! Don’t blame him a bit. At least we have a good idea concerning what triathlon racing and training involves, we just need to get everybody set up and then somehow get them together for practice sessions.”
“The bike part’s huge,” I said, “but so’s the swim. I really appreciate the help you guys are giving you with the bikes, Padre, and you with the swimming, Madre. It’s critical.”
“Well we have your father to thank for the pool,” Jean said with a smirk, “that and his Nordic blood. I’m amazed you’re not complaining about the heat.”
“Oh, I am,” Padre said, “I’m just keeping it to myself.”
“Speaking of help?” I segued, “I’m hoping that you’ll both be able to lend me a hand whenever possible. Obviously, you’re out of the picture weekday morning’s Madre, but I’m counting on you for the evenings?”
“Weekday mornings?” Madre replied. “Uh, make that mornings. I’ll help with the evening workouts but count me out for the a.m. ones.”
“Okay,” I replied, my voice telegraphing surprise. “Why not Saturday or Sunday mornings? You don’t work weekends,” said question earning me a look of utter contempt.
“Sean,” Madre replied, “I get up before seven five days a week, and if you think I’m going to get up before 9:00 o’clock on either Saturday or Sunday if I don’t have to, then you have definitely not been paying attention.”
“So this Sunday’s 20-mile bike ride followed by an easy one-mile jog?” I asked. “Padre? Are you in?”
“Uh, not really,” Padre said, brow furrowed, “but I can start out with you guys. I gotta be to work by 9:45 latest, so my cutoff time’s gonna be nine. I’ll be happy to help on my days off.”
Sighing heavily I said, “Okay. Okay, great. Every little bit helps. Think you can get out right at 7:00 when you do work? I mean if you tell Geoff why?”
“Could happen,” Padre replied, “but we’ll keep you covered. Mostly,” he concluded with a shrug.
“Great,” I said sincerely, “that’ll all help a lot. So Sunday you’ll help get us on our way, right?” I asked Padre.
“You got it,” he said with a nod. “I can definitely do that and depending on when folks show up, I may be able to at least ride with you to Starkey Ranch, but you’ll be on your own for most of the training session.”
“Understood,” I said, “and thanks,” before we three started our triathlon paraphernalia needs and wants list which I typed into my phone and sent to the group.
“Good job, everybody. I’m counting our introductory training session a success. You probably already figured out that in addition to a bike and a helmet there’s a bunch of triathlon related stuff you’ll either need or want. Below is a preliminary list, but I may add more later. Just wanted to give everyone as big of a head’s up as I could. Anyone who purchased the Craft Street Trailside Bikes triathlon kit will receive a pair of triathlon shorts and a triathlon appropriate singlet/top. The list(s) are below.
“MUST HAVES- 1) Swim Goggles. 2) Swimming suit OR triathlon shorts 3) Bike. 4) ANSI approved Helmet. 5) Shoes for 3-mile run. 6) A water bottle and holder on the bike.
“ESSENTIALS- 7) Triathlon shorts. Tri shorts have minimal padding and can be worn for swimming, biking, and running. 8) Sunglasses. 9) Runner’s cap. Runner’s caps keep the sun and most of the sweat out of your eyes. Some people prefer sweat bands over caps. 10) Sweat Band. Worn beneath helmet to keep sweat out of eyes.
“YOU WANT THESE TOO- 11) Bike shorts. More padding for longer rides. 12) Anti chaffing cream. Swimming, cycling then running can leave both private parts RAW and nipples bleeding during the run. The cream helps prevent this. 13) A towel to lay down next to your bike to lay items on. The “Cool Kids” with clipless pedals ride in cycling specific shoes then change into running shoes. Organizing everything on the towel helps get you back in the race faster between each of the three events. 14) Extra water bottle(s). There will be water stations on the course, but you should drink a lot on the bike, in transition from bike to running and you may also want to get a holder to bring the bottle with you on the run so you can drink whenever you feel a need. Drink. Lots. Of. Water! Both in training and on race day. 15) A bike jersey with pockets for training.
“That’s it for now. Our next session is THIS SUNDAY MORNING at 8:30. We’ll do a longer ride then a very short run. Be here ready to go at 8:30 so we can get out on time and then back on time. Good job to all who showed tonight, hope to see more of you Sunday at 8:30 A.M!”