amen, anton

Good points Anton.
I've heard lots of grumblings around Madison for IMWI. Traffic laws are another big issue. The rolling through stop signs etc really gets the locals upset.

I think this a good example of the "I'm on vacation" phenomenon. It's not pretty.

Dude goes away on a trip for a week, wants to relax as much as is possible while riding, running, and swimming. Has paid a crazy amount of money to do an event. Eats clif bar, not having pockets, thinks "one wrapper wont hurt" and drops it. Problem is, so do the other 15 dudes he's there with. People just relax and dont think right when theyre not home. They prolly wouldnt drop this stuff on their home course.

Be sharp and represent, people! Not only is this littering, it reflects bad on ALL of us... except maybe Anton who mustve looked funny with his pockets over flowing with junk.

Great post Anton!! I hope this gets read by many triathletes. Perhaps Tribro could post your rant on the front page of Trifuel as an article. You could probably hit up Slow Twitch and Beginner Triathlete and get it out there too just to cover as many sites as you can.

I've helped coordinate races (water stations) and have run many other races where sh!t is just everywhere. Especially on my training rides here at home. People either are not paying attention or just don't care. They assume "someone" will pick it up. We are ambassadors of our sport and guests on the courses. Treat it like you would if you were camping. If you pack it in, then pack it out.

Man that really sux I never thought about it like that. I guess I have been the culprit a few times on dropping gu when I was riding I will try to pick it up more now..

For quite some time I bought myself a Vento box and I use it all the time so I have a place to put my empty Gu´s and Bar wrappers.

Great post Anton! We can make a difference ourselves.

Probably an extension of the "It's all about me" and "I'm special" mindset prevalent throughout much of our culture. It's like the motorist that honks at cyclists stupidly riding two abreast on a busy 2-lane road. The rider then gives the motorist the obligatory finger. How do you think that motorist will react to the next cyclist he sees? Probably think about running him over. As triathletes we need to keep in mind the consequences of our actions, like how will it affect other triathletes in the future. Common courtesy and good manners is all we need to do.

I spoke with Anton this weekend about this.

Wherever I go If I see garbage I pick it up if I can and I encourage my kids to do the same. Sometimes we'll go to a park and it will be a mess. I start picking up and they join in. They are learning that sometimes you have to pick up after others who are less responsible and mature.

That is all it takes, and what makes the difference.

If you stop and reach down to stretch your calf then you can pick up the garbage at the same time!:D

And thanks to you Anton -- otherwise I would have been a bit annoyed that people dropped stuff (esp. right by the can) but probably would have ignored it. Now I have my tri brothers making sure I keep in mind what is really important :)

I have a mildly humorous good-do-be trash related story:
So, I have only done one tri before and it was a sprint. So, I don't typically need to refuel during workouts short of maybe a gatorade on the longer ones. However, normally in the mornings I eat a lot. Like every 2 hours. So, I knew that the timing of this race between breakfast and lunch meant I would need to eat my normal mid-morning snack right after the swim. Usually, I call this breakfast part 2 but since I would be racing I limited it to a snack; a chocolate chip granola bar I regularly eat. So, I tore open the granola bar wrapper during the part where I had to walk the bike out of the transition area. I slowly, happily much along and around mile 2, I finish. At which point what crosses my mind is "Oh, cr@p! What am I going to do with the wrapper?!" So, now imagine a newbie on her bicycle in her first race trying to find a place to stuff her trash. I try to hang onto it in my hand in the meanwhile making shifting and breaking interesting. "No where on the bike.... No Pockets.... Thank goodness I am wearing Tri-shorts! I'll stuff it down my pants!"

So now, the race has ended. I've been through an enormous amount of excitement and have long forgotten about the wrapper stuffed down my pants. I go for a little swim and go to change in the beach house where it's pretty much an open changing area. I take off my tri shorts and out falls my souvineer onto the ground in front of a couple baffled spectators, and I just laugh. And finally try to find a trash can.

Hear, hear!
I do the same. On my runs I can usually spot a trash can to drop collected items. I even carry the odd popcan back to the house and eventually return them for the deposit. I call it my reward for doing a good deed.

PoC

Yeah tri shorts are great for holding stuff! I often use the side of the shorts to hold a gel for a long run. However, I usually stuff up (through the leg), not down (the waist). Just remember in a race to get rid of it at the next aid station -- some gu things can scrap and rub in bad ways... or leave odd gu marks ;)

I also have a funny gu story. I was coming in off the run and saw a Gu no where near an aid station and I was on a 20 second walk break so grabbed it stuffed it so tight on the bottom of my tri shorts and didn't think anything of it. So I come in to the finish and everyone is cheering but then they start giving me these really odd looks. Right after I cross the finish line two paramedics come over and tell me in very urgent voices that I need to sit down and they think I may need to go to the hospital. I tell them no I'm feeling fine why in the world should I go to the hospital. The amount of blood I must have lost plus the exercise meant they said it was a wonder I was still standing, umm what blood loss I didn't fall of anything. They tell me to look at my leg, well apparently the Gu still had a lot in it and was like raspberry so it looked like I had nicked a major artery on the back side of my leg as it was just covered with this Gu and when dryed looked very much like dried blood. Once I told them what it was they laughed so hard I think they almost needed to go to the hospital.

ewwwwww :eek:

Nope, not surprised. At all :)

But of course!!

As Pre would say;
"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift."

In my case it would be the gift of Goofy :D

That is why I would love to do Kona!!

I would do that on TV as I cross the finish line!!

That would be so cool!! :D

...rotflol !