Duathlon

I am a member of the PEI Roadrunner club. They have a website that lists events around the Island for fitness. I'm happy to report there is usually 1-2 races every weekend.

This past weekend, there were 2 races. One was a killer 25 km trail run. No thanks. The other was a duathlon: 17 km bike, followed by a 7 km run.

I was bummed. I've long sold the legendary race bike, Blackbird, and do not enjoy riding on my hybrid bike. I debated on possibly taking the bike anyway, but then I was faced with logistics of transporting it in my car (unlike Blackbird, the front tire does not pop off easily).

And so, I stared at the web page. To bike or not to bike. What to do? Then I noticed a "team division". Aha! Now I just needed someone who enjoys bicycling.

But who enjoys bicycling? I don't have many fitness friends here on PEI.

Again, I was crestfallen. Until it hit me like a bolt of lightning: my father.

It is no secret that my father is a rabid bicyclist. He patrols the Confederation Trail with other senior citizens, wearing daunting yellow jerseys and licensed to write citations on yellow pieces of paper. Last year, he logged a staggering 5000 km.

How perfect! I sent an email and before long, we were in Rustico together. He bikes; I run. Sounds good to me.

It was a fun event. It threatened rain but we got away with it. As it turned out, we finished 25th out of 37 entries. To be fair, many entries were solo efforts. However, our combined age is 112. (I'm fairly certain we were the oldest team.)

It was great fun and I hope that we can try it again next year. The duathlon is rare even in St. Louis but especially so here.

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