Triathlon on a Hybrid Bike

I recently saw some pictures from one of the Danskin Women's Triathlons. The thing that struck me wasn't the sizes or shapes of the women represented, it was the bicycles. Naturally, the women at the front were geared out to the max. It was the bikes at the rear that enchanted me. There were hybrids. There were road bikes. There even seemed to be a few "my teenage bike rescued from my parent's basement" bikes. That said a lot to me.

Like the running world, the triathlon world had also become inclusive. Back in the days of my only triathlon (Please note that I don't use the "so far" qualifier - there will NOT be another!), the tri world was a fringe world, not unlike that of the ultrarunners today. It was starting to get bigger, but wasn't mainstream then. Today, doing a triathlon seems to be one of the normal physical challenges. Twenty years ago, except among hardcore sportpeople, it was still quite an oddity.

Thus, when I saw a significant number of "unserious" bikes in the event, it was clear to me that this sport had transitioned to one of mass participation. It was nice to see. The more activities we can involve people in, the healthier our society will be.