Uncle Pete's Handy Tri-hints

Hey there triathletes! It's never to early in the season to reach in to the old mailbag and get out questions from some of my tri-fans around the country.

"Invisible" of Austin writes:

"Dear Pete,

I have been racing and racing, but I never show up in the results. I know I finish the races, because I am sweaty and tired, but the race directors claim I didn't. I am wondering, is this some sort of conspiracy to make me think I am the gunman on the grassy knoll? Or have I entered the fourth dimension, and am sort of racing in a twilight zone, which is technically not in my normal age group and I should probably get a prize?"

Dear Invisible of Austin,

Triathlons are a complicated sport. You have to swim, ride and run. You have to remember to enter the race, get out of bed, and get to the race site. You have to put air in your tires (actually, the bike's tires), and water in your (the bike's) bottles. There's a lot to think about, and it can become confusing, especially if you are not very bright to begin with. I suspect you have not entered the fourth dimension, and it may be a conspiracy, but they are by definition hard to prove. It's more likely that you have forgotten to put on your chip strap. This can happen to anyone, though it has never happened to me. In fact, you are the first person I have heard it happen to. Anyway, here is a quick tutorial.

Fasten chip strap around ankle, as shown in this photo:














If, after putting the chip around your ankle, it looks like the second picture, you need to start again:














I told you it was complicated! Practice, practice, and you'll get it right. Remember, what you don't do in training, you won't do on race day, unless you don't have a chip, in which case you didn't race at all anyway, so what's the problem?

Bye for now!

Uncle Pete