Triathlon Events for 2021?
01-22-21, 07:08 AM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Triathlon Events for 2021?
With the current "19" going on around the world. Are there any Tri events anywhere that might still be happening ? what organizations would be doing such events?
How would they get around the restrictions? if any of course in some jurisdictions?
How would they get around the restrictions? if any of course in some jurisdictions?
01-26-21, 10:34 AM
#2
Senior Member
I always go to trifind.
I'm not sure how it'll play out this year but ii plan on 3 this year... hopefully refund if cancelled.
I'm not sure how it'll play out this year but ii plan on 3 this year... hopefully refund if cancelled.
06-28-21, 01:35 PM
#5
nOOb
I'm getting emails that indicate this is still on.
Thank you for committing to spend your weekend supporting thousands of athletes at the Verizon New York City Triathlon on July 10 & 11, 2021!
Regardless of which day you are volunteering, our Volunteer Coordinator will be in contact with you the week leading up to race day with instructions on how to get to your assigned area and to connect you with your shift captain to answer any questions.
Thank you for committing to spend your weekend supporting thousands of athletes at the Verizon New York City Triathlon on July 10 & 11, 2021!
Regardless of which day you are volunteering, our Volunteer Coordinator will be in contact with you the week leading up to race day with instructions on how to get to your assigned area and to connect you with your shift captain to answer any questions.
07-10-21, 02:36 PM
#6
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Saturday OCT 2nd, 2021 in Columbia, South Carolina
A really cool little sprint triathlon called The Dam Tri
This one is really fun because it gets a small segment of really serious Triathletes and a whole lotta folks that are novices, and a lot of first timers.
Great open water swim on Lake Murray, and the bike portion lets you ride up and back through what the locals refer to as just The Dam.
(actually officially The Dreher Shoals Dam, but nobody ever calls it by that name and most would never know that is the name of this huge earthen dam if not for reading it off the small sign)
********The Dam is local South Carolina highway (6) which crosses through Lake Murray which is an absolutely beautiful man made recreational lake which was built I believe in the 1930's as probably one of FDR's federal public works depression era projects to have the lake to generate efficient and reliable cost-efficient power to the area.
The Dam and hwy(6) through it was re-worked about 30 years ago such that the automobile traffic lanes are segregated/separated through while winding within the dam. You have two full lanes going either direction through the Dreher Shoals Dam ("the Dam"). In the 1980's it was totally different. The current (6) hwy road through the earthen dam has a significant banana or smile curve to it such that it really goes down and comes up in as you're coming in on hwy 6 from say Lexington approaching the Dam and Lake Murray to cross through it.
It is an absolute blast to ride through the Dam. This is one of the few times that a cyclist will get a chance to safely ride through the dam on hwy 6.
Safely is a "relative" term because they Don't Close Lake Drive(hwy 6) but only have Police trying to navigate the lake's automobile traffic to the far lane so the cyclist can have most/some or all of the inner right lane.
Be forewarned that the Police do a great job with this separating the automobile traffic for the huge mass of "serious triathletes" going all out and making respectable race times BUT this is NOT SO MUCH THE CASE with the stragglers and novice 1st timers that are say already over an hour behind the "serious triathletes" on the course. Why does this happen? Well it isn't so much The Police's fault because there is always a massive amount of automobile traffic heading to the Lake on any weekend, even in December and January. There are lots of folks who live on the lake (in large lakefront homes) as the connector roads and traffic engineering within the area, along with the late '80's/early 90's improvement to hwy 6 through the dam has made it a major thoroughfare. Traffic isn't too bad before 10:30 AM but from about 11 AM to 7:00 PM on any weekend and there are thousands of cars going through the dam each hour at speeds between 50mph and 65mph, though closer to 45mph when the white with green Police SUV's are seen driving back and forth along about an 8 mile stretch of hwy 6 (lake dr) going out to lexington and back across the dam on hwy 6 to Bush River Rd, and all parts around, which the Police routinely do from about 7AM to 8:30PM every day, but you know in SC, if you don't see the Police vehicles anywhere, you just drive between 60mph and 65mph on that road to the lake, unless the traffic lights are red. The local traffic engineers and SC DOT really have masterfully designed traffic flow where thousands of cars can swiftly move through seemlessly at near haul ass speeds everyday except weekdays at between 5pm and 6:30PM when you have folks returning home after work and the traffic backs up some as more folks are turning left at lights, etc.
THIS SWIFT EFFICIENT & VERY FAST SPEED AUTOMOBILE TRAFFIC FLOW is Absolutely Great for Traveling by Automobile, BUT IT CAN BE A SERIOUS RISK FOR CYCLISTS THAT ARE HARD-HEADED and BOUND & DETERMINED to RIDE SUCH AREAS WITH THE HEAVY AUTOMOBILE TRAFFIC, WHEN THERE ARE AREAS ELSEWHERE WITHIN COLUMBIA THAT ARE SAFE TO RIDE.
Just saying that the prevailing attitude in South Carolina and throughout the South is that bike riding is cool but get outta my F^@$*! way and off this 35+ speed limit road! Share the road isn't understood and plenty of southerners and folks in SC expect you to get your ass off on the far edge of the right lane, if not on to the sidewalk. I'm just giving you a clue as to the typical state-of-mind of these SUV pilots that will be driving to and from the lake while the Dam Tri is happening. Like I mentioned, the Police do a great job for most of this triathlon's cyclists BUT BE FOREWARNED THAT IF YOU ARE SO SLOW THAT YOU ARE ONE OF THE LAST STRAGGLERS, HOURS BEHIND THE SERIOUS TRI COMPETITORS, THAN YOU MAY BE AT A MUCH GREATER RISK FROM AUTOMOBILE TRAFFIC.
I hate to say that, but it is a fact. Maybe, 75% of Columbia SC drivers are courteous and attentive and respect "share the road", but the others drive like they are recreating the chase scenes from the (1968) movie "BULLET or the original (1974) "Gone In 60 Seconds", the Dukes of Hazzard tv show or maybe like they were trying to race qualify at Darlington or at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Accept this as a fact and do adjust your practice and local Columbia area riding according the locations and the exact time of day. Don't be a hard-headed moron that has to be right but ends up dead or severely injured because he/she exercised their lawful right to ride among these SUV speed demons. I'm not saying that is how it should be, but regretfully that is how it currently is.
SAT OCT 2nd 2021 Dam Tri (Lake Murray-------Columbia SC, USA)
https://www.trisignup.com/Race/SC/Lexington/DamTri
This is a super-fun sprint tri that you can participate in even if you only are just average on the bike, and if you stink at swimming and stink at running.
My warning from above is still relevent but you can enter The Dam Tri as a 3 person RELAY TEAM if you wish.
THAT WOULD BE MY ADVICE IF YOU ARE NEW TO CYCLING, OR JUST SLOW, OR BOTH OLD and REALLY SLOW.... It still would allow you to safely finish the CYCLING portion if for example you got your college age grand-daughter who is an ace swimmer to do the swim. The 22 miles on the bike is something any really fit 75 or 80 year old could do, and anyone 70 and under could do it on even a mountain bike with those smooth road tread Kenda tires with the bevel of a phonograph diamond needle where the the rubber meets the road. Your time won't be great or anywhere near competitive in Cycling but it is still a blast and if you do have somebody that is young and like Mark Spitz or Dave Wottle to do the swim and run, it gives you bragging rights that you did a triathlon. You might even place as a team and go home with some hardware to put on your mantle piece at home. My brother-in-law has done this several times, he has had total knee replacements on both knees, and has always been an athlete and at one time a major NCAA college tennis standout in the late 1960's as well as a great amateur tennis competitor to this day..... His team finished 3rd and 2nd in this Dam Tri and other sprint RELAY tri's in NC and GA a few years ago while he rode an old modified Nishiki mountain bike with those fat and smooth Kenda tires. One of those was only about two years after getting total knee replacements. Yeah, he had two really strong twenty-something ex college athletes doing the swim and run, and the old over seventy fossil riding upright on a dang modified mountain bike to a podium position as a team......well yeah he was the turtle that had it been anybody under 40 on even a Walmart hybrid bike instead as a team member, and that team likely would have placed 1st.
The RELAY team folks aren't true triathlon competitors because the serious folks generally want to do it all, instead of being considered a one-trick pony.
Still it can be a helluva lot of fun, and anyone can easily do the 22 mile course on most anything with enough gearing for the hills through the dam.
You just don't wanna be out there so long, for example say that the swim is difficult for you and you're super slow, and then you transition like a snail, --well that would put you starting on the bike course very late and while it won't impact the Police safety that you'll have for maybe 1/2 of your 22 miles because there will be other groups of competitors still on the bike course.....but the stragglers get the short end of the stick as fewer are left still cycling and the Police look to balance local traffic flow demand as it gets later in the day. The last stragglers on the cycling portion just are faced with greater risks from automobile traffic. I cannot stress that enough.
You can avoid most all of that by having a relay team with a fast swimmer, that will allow even an old slowpoke to enjoy the ride. Who cares if your team has a podium finish as long as everybody has a great time. Look at it perhaps like GOLF where you are competiting for a Personal Best Score, on your outing on the golf course. Just do the best that you can do and rejoice in that, and then do it again next time. If you have a lot of fun, that is all that counts. It can be addicting. Don't automatically rule out attempting such a sprint tri because you think it is way outta your league. The RELAY team can be a great introduction if you think that the SWIM might be more than you might be capable of at this time. Most anyone can run, but if you hate running, that is another reason that the RELAY team is perhaps the way to go if you've never done an easy sprint tri before. Look at it like something like that Pebble Beach Pro-Am PGA golf tournament that happens every January and is one of the first golf tournaments of the year and is on tv in the week between NFL playoffs and the Superbowl, I think. You have the pro golfers trying to win the individual medal play title just like they normally do, and you also have celebrities/actors/some unknowns that are friends of participants/ex-athletes/musicians/tv personalities who are amateur golfers that might be really good or might also be horrible hacks..........yeah their golf Handicap equalizes things somewhat, but you have these Teams of the pro with their amateur partner combined for the pro-am win, and they(pros) are fired up as much about trying to win that as the regular tournament. It is one of the few times that you get to see some really awful hack golfer celebrities playing together with the pros on tv. Hey, there is no way even the worlds' slowest bike rider would compare to that wide disparity of ability as seen on those Golf Pro-Ams, so look at it that way, that you've got your own ride to ride......................you'll certainly get nothing but great encouragement and much deserved respect from the serious tri competitors for just getting out there and giving it a tri. You will not be an obstruction for the serious tri competitors because it will be a now you see them and in a near flash, they'll be gone......it will not be as if you're riding in a large peloton or within a paceline and need to worry if some girl with cardboard sign wants to be on live local tv broadcast...
This is a really fun event.
Another cool thing about doing the RELAY is that you get to come up with a really cool team name.
A really cool little sprint triathlon called The Dam Tri
This one is really fun because it gets a small segment of really serious Triathletes and a whole lotta folks that are novices, and a lot of first timers.
Great open water swim on Lake Murray, and the bike portion lets you ride up and back through what the locals refer to as just The Dam.
(actually officially The Dreher Shoals Dam, but nobody ever calls it by that name and most would never know that is the name of this huge earthen dam if not for reading it off the small sign)
********The Dam is local South Carolina highway (6) which crosses through Lake Murray which is an absolutely beautiful man made recreational lake which was built I believe in the 1930's as probably one of FDR's federal public works depression era projects to have the lake to generate efficient and reliable cost-efficient power to the area.
The Dam and hwy(6) through it was re-worked about 30 years ago such that the automobile traffic lanes are segregated/separated through while winding within the dam. You have two full lanes going either direction through the Dreher Shoals Dam ("the Dam"). In the 1980's it was totally different. The current (6) hwy road through the earthen dam has a significant banana or smile curve to it such that it really goes down and comes up in as you're coming in on hwy 6 from say Lexington approaching the Dam and Lake Murray to cross through it.
It is an absolute blast to ride through the Dam. This is one of the few times that a cyclist will get a chance to safely ride through the dam on hwy 6.
Safely is a "relative" term because they Don't Close Lake Drive(hwy 6) but only have Police trying to navigate the lake's automobile traffic to the far lane so the cyclist can have most/some or all of the inner right lane.
Be forewarned that the Police do a great job with this separating the automobile traffic for the huge mass of "serious triathletes" going all out and making respectable race times BUT this is NOT SO MUCH THE CASE with the stragglers and novice 1st timers that are say already over an hour behind the "serious triathletes" on the course. Why does this happen? Well it isn't so much The Police's fault because there is always a massive amount of automobile traffic heading to the Lake on any weekend, even in December and January. There are lots of folks who live on the lake (in large lakefront homes) as the connector roads and traffic engineering within the area, along with the late '80's/early 90's improvement to hwy 6 through the dam has made it a major thoroughfare. Traffic isn't too bad before 10:30 AM but from about 11 AM to 7:00 PM on any weekend and there are thousands of cars going through the dam each hour at speeds between 50mph and 65mph, though closer to 45mph when the white with green Police SUV's are seen driving back and forth along about an 8 mile stretch of hwy 6 (lake dr) going out to lexington and back across the dam on hwy 6 to Bush River Rd, and all parts around, which the Police routinely do from about 7AM to 8:30PM every day, but you know in SC, if you don't see the Police vehicles anywhere, you just drive between 60mph and 65mph on that road to the lake, unless the traffic lights are red. The local traffic engineers and SC DOT really have masterfully designed traffic flow where thousands of cars can swiftly move through seemlessly at near haul ass speeds everyday except weekdays at between 5pm and 6:30PM when you have folks returning home after work and the traffic backs up some as more folks are turning left at lights, etc.
THIS SWIFT EFFICIENT & VERY FAST SPEED AUTOMOBILE TRAFFIC FLOW is Absolutely Great for Traveling by Automobile, BUT IT CAN BE A SERIOUS RISK FOR CYCLISTS THAT ARE HARD-HEADED and BOUND & DETERMINED to RIDE SUCH AREAS WITH THE HEAVY AUTOMOBILE TRAFFIC, WHEN THERE ARE AREAS ELSEWHERE WITHIN COLUMBIA THAT ARE SAFE TO RIDE.
Just saying that the prevailing attitude in South Carolina and throughout the South is that bike riding is cool but get outta my F^@$*! way and off this 35+ speed limit road! Share the road isn't understood and plenty of southerners and folks in SC expect you to get your ass off on the far edge of the right lane, if not on to the sidewalk. I'm just giving you a clue as to the typical state-of-mind of these SUV pilots that will be driving to and from the lake while the Dam Tri is happening. Like I mentioned, the Police do a great job for most of this triathlon's cyclists BUT BE FOREWARNED THAT IF YOU ARE SO SLOW THAT YOU ARE ONE OF THE LAST STRAGGLERS, HOURS BEHIND THE SERIOUS TRI COMPETITORS, THAN YOU MAY BE AT A MUCH GREATER RISK FROM AUTOMOBILE TRAFFIC.
I hate to say that, but it is a fact. Maybe, 75% of Columbia SC drivers are courteous and attentive and respect "share the road", but the others drive like they are recreating the chase scenes from the (1968) movie "BULLET or the original (1974) "Gone In 60 Seconds", the Dukes of Hazzard tv show or maybe like they were trying to race qualify at Darlington or at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Accept this as a fact and do adjust your practice and local Columbia area riding according the locations and the exact time of day. Don't be a hard-headed moron that has to be right but ends up dead or severely injured because he/she exercised their lawful right to ride among these SUV speed demons. I'm not saying that is how it should be, but regretfully that is how it currently is.
SAT OCT 2nd 2021 Dam Tri (Lake Murray-------Columbia SC, USA)
https://www.trisignup.com/Race/SC/Lexington/DamTri
This is a super-fun sprint tri that you can participate in even if you only are just average on the bike, and if you stink at swimming and stink at running.
My warning from above is still relevent but you can enter The Dam Tri as a 3 person RELAY TEAM if you wish.
THAT WOULD BE MY ADVICE IF YOU ARE NEW TO CYCLING, OR JUST SLOW, OR BOTH OLD and REALLY SLOW.... It still would allow you to safely finish the CYCLING portion if for example you got your college age grand-daughter who is an ace swimmer to do the swim. The 22 miles on the bike is something any really fit 75 or 80 year old could do, and anyone 70 and under could do it on even a mountain bike with those smooth road tread Kenda tires with the bevel of a phonograph diamond needle where the the rubber meets the road. Your time won't be great or anywhere near competitive in Cycling but it is still a blast and if you do have somebody that is young and like Mark Spitz or Dave Wottle to do the swim and run, it gives you bragging rights that you did a triathlon. You might even place as a team and go home with some hardware to put on your mantle piece at home. My brother-in-law has done this several times, he has had total knee replacements on both knees, and has always been an athlete and at one time a major NCAA college tennis standout in the late 1960's as well as a great amateur tennis competitor to this day..... His team finished 3rd and 2nd in this Dam Tri and other sprint RELAY tri's in NC and GA a few years ago while he rode an old modified Nishiki mountain bike with those fat and smooth Kenda tires. One of those was only about two years after getting total knee replacements. Yeah, he had two really strong twenty-something ex college athletes doing the swim and run, and the old over seventy fossil riding upright on a dang modified mountain bike to a podium position as a team......well yeah he was the turtle that had it been anybody under 40 on even a Walmart hybrid bike instead as a team member, and that team likely would have placed 1st.
The RELAY team folks aren't true triathlon competitors because the serious folks generally want to do it all, instead of being considered a one-trick pony.
Still it can be a helluva lot of fun, and anyone can easily do the 22 mile course on most anything with enough gearing for the hills through the dam.
You just don't wanna be out there so long, for example say that the swim is difficult for you and you're super slow, and then you transition like a snail, --well that would put you starting on the bike course very late and while it won't impact the Police safety that you'll have for maybe 1/2 of your 22 miles because there will be other groups of competitors still on the bike course.....but the stragglers get the short end of the stick as fewer are left still cycling and the Police look to balance local traffic flow demand as it gets later in the day. The last stragglers on the cycling portion just are faced with greater risks from automobile traffic. I cannot stress that enough.
You can avoid most all of that by having a relay team with a fast swimmer, that will allow even an old slowpoke to enjoy the ride. Who cares if your team has a podium finish as long as everybody has a great time. Look at it perhaps like GOLF where you are competiting for a Personal Best Score, on your outing on the golf course. Just do the best that you can do and rejoice in that, and then do it again next time. If you have a lot of fun, that is all that counts. It can be addicting. Don't automatically rule out attempting such a sprint tri because you think it is way outta your league. The RELAY team can be a great introduction if you think that the SWIM might be more than you might be capable of at this time. Most anyone can run, but if you hate running, that is another reason that the RELAY team is perhaps the way to go if you've never done an easy sprint tri before. Look at it like something like that Pebble Beach Pro-Am PGA golf tournament that happens every January and is one of the first golf tournaments of the year and is on tv in the week between NFL playoffs and the Superbowl, I think. You have the pro golfers trying to win the individual medal play title just like they normally do, and you also have celebrities/actors/some unknowns that are friends of participants/ex-athletes/musicians/tv personalities who are amateur golfers that might be really good or might also be horrible hacks..........yeah their golf Handicap equalizes things somewhat, but you have these Teams of the pro with their amateur partner combined for the pro-am win, and they(pros) are fired up as much about trying to win that as the regular tournament. It is one of the few times that you get to see some really awful hack golfer celebrities playing together with the pros on tv. Hey, there is no way even the worlds' slowest bike rider would compare to that wide disparity of ability as seen on those Golf Pro-Ams, so look at it that way, that you've got your own ride to ride......................you'll certainly get nothing but great encouragement and much deserved respect from the serious tri competitors for just getting out there and giving it a tri. You will not be an obstruction for the serious tri competitors because it will be a now you see them and in a near flash, they'll be gone......it will not be as if you're riding in a large peloton or within a paceline and need to worry if some girl with cardboard sign wants to be on live local tv broadcast...
This is a really fun event.
Another cool thing about doing the RELAY is that you get to come up with a really cool team name.
