Sunday, September 17, 2006

What tri is all about...

I am fortunate to help out the Mississauga Triathlon Kids of Steels on Sat. I was de-triing for a few weeks but just watching the kids in action I could feel the race juices flowing.

I was directing the kids to ride the loop or back to transition. There was one kid that hit the curb and flipped. He got up screaming. Then I ask him what happen. He told me how his wheel hit the curb. As he was looking at the bike and pointing at the front tire, he forgot about the pain. Then he just got back on his bike and finish the ride.

Another kid's shoe came off during the bike. I had to run down and get it for him...


I yelled out encouragement to every kid. It was great to see a few polite ones to say thank you. I started to high fives a few of them as they went by.

I can't believe how hard it is to be a volunteer. I stood for eight hours and I was feeling it . I rather wished I bike for eight hours. But to see the smile of a kid in the race..priceless. There were about 900 kids participated in this race. It is suppose to be the largest in Canada. Every kid had a blast and this is what tri is all about. To just go and have fun.... :)

Today, I had meetings after church. The weather was perfect and I managed to squeeze in 30 min bike ride. It felt great to be on the road again. I spent the last 10 min practicing mounting and dismounting with my bike shoes on the clips. Very fun. I had problem mounting. Darren mentioned about using rubber bands to hold the shoes upright.

I am doing the Niagara On The Lake Duathlon this Sat. Nothing fancy. Race blind (no HRM, no Bike comp) and have fun. I managed to grab a few friends from my Fellowship to join me. It will be an awesome day.

These bikes are probably more expensive than mine :)


Ready....

This kid just finish the bike....oh he ain't running :)



Hardcore :)

17 comments:

Nancy Toby said...

I adore those photos! Thank you for volunteering. :-)

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

Awww.... it sure can be fun volunteering for a kiddie event. I'm glad you had a good time!

Trisaratops said...

That is SOOOOOOO cute! Thanks for sharing! Glad to see the little ones catching the tri bug.

Thomas said...

Those pictures are dead cute. It's great to see active kids like that. It certainly looks like their having a great time.

Battman said...

Love to see the effort on the kids faces; just pure joy.

Habeela said...

You know, at Steelhead, my best friend said that after an hour of cheering their arms started hurting but they looked at the tri-ers and felt stupid for complaining. :) Great pics!

Chris said...

Cute pics of those kids! Way to volunteer!

I think you're right. Volunteering seems like harder work than actually racing. :)

Unknown said...

seriously... how cute are those kids??!?!??!! adorable. sounds like a fun thing to be a part of.

good luck with your "blind" race... i don't know if i could do that.

Darren said...

Hehe, those pics are great! Awesome that you volunteered Cliff. Well done. (raises glass)

Afternoon Tea With Oranges said...

Cliff - that is so nice of you to help with the kids tri! Having a little one who tri's myself, I fully appreciate each volunteer out there. I love the pics!! Good luck in the duathlon!

Papa Louie said...

Sounds like lots of fun! You make me want to volunteer for the kids race. But 900 kids and 8 hours would make me tired. Good job at the race.

jennybchu said...

Those are very very cute photos. They look so hardcore that they scare me!

Jennifer P said...

I love watching the Kids of Steel. But man, that kid in the last picture -- that's a sweet bike! I'm jealous!

Anonymous said...

Maaaaaaan, you gotta love the kids' triathlons. You're a good man for stepping up and helping at their race.

Good luck in your next tri.

Stay tuned...

Zoo said...

LOL!!! Hilarious photos

Comm's said...

kid tri's are so much fun. Thanks for volunteering and passing the spirit on.

Rae said...

What cute pics of the kids triathlon!! Those kids are going to be tough competition one day!