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April 29, 2005
Ticked off at road-hog cyclists....
I think we have all passed this lady while cycling or running out this way.
From Monday's TICKED-OFF section in the Orlando Sentinel:
I am ticked off at the stupid bicyclists in Clermont who ride in the middle of the road and refuse to move to the side. I am going to turn a few of them into hood ornaments for my Ford Explorer if they don't quit hogging the road. Perhaps their cutesy bike pants are blocking the blood flow to their brains.
Posted by Fred at 01:29 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack | More in: Random Thoughts
April 28, 2005
Too many men????
About every couple of weeks I hear of another "man" surfacing in the triathlon world. Last year I started to compile a list of the new men entering the sport. The list kept growing, and growing...it was unbelievable. What is it with this sport's obsession with a man? Sure there is the granddaddy of all men, the Ironman, but come on race directors, try to be more creative and original when naming your races. Maybe I'm missing something...lets see, TriAmericaman, Great Floridianman....nope!
I did some research and I found a total of 68 manly races. For some names like Tinman, you will find many events with the same name. I only listed one occurrence for each unique man. Here they are -
1. Abitaman
2. Amphibiaman
3. Aquaman
4. Atomicman
5. Boilerman
6. Buffman
7. Californiaman
8. Cajunman
9. Chesapeakeman
10. Chickenwingman
11. Concreteman
12. Cornman
13. Crawfishman
14. Cyman
15. Deadman
16. Demolitionman
17. Demoman
18. Devilman
19. Diamondman
20. Dilloman
21. Dutchman
22. Eagleman
23. Firmman
24. Gatorman
25. Grandman
26. Hammerman
27. Hillman
28. Iceman
29. Ironman
30. Lavaman
31. Lobsterman
32. Mattoonman
33. Miamiman
34. Mightyman
35. Milkman
36. Minneman
37. Missionman
38. Mooseman
39. Mossman
40. Mountainman
41. Musselman
42. Oddman
43. Pigman
44. Pineappleman
45. Pineman
46. Powerman
47. Prairieman
48. Pumkinman
49. Quarterman
50. Redman
51. Rocketman
52. Sandman
53. Shrimpman
54. Silverman
55. Spudman
56. Steelman
57. Stoneman
58. Terraquaman
59. Texasman
60. Timberman
61. Tinfoilman
62. Tinman
63. Titaniumman
64. Turtleman
65. Ultraman
66. Vineman
67. Windman
68. Woolman
I'm sure there are lots more men out there than the just the ones listed above.
Alright ladies, for the past several years the percentage of women in the sport has been increasing. Isn't it about time you got the recognition you deserve in race names?
Start lobbying.....
Posted by Fred at 04:32 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack | More in: Random Thoughts
April 27, 2005
Talking the talk...
Last week I journeyed to Portland to attend the Event Marketplace at the National Association of Sports Commissions Conference. It is annual event where Sports Commissions, Convention and Tourism Bureaus, and the like get together to network and discuss what is going on in the industry. The Event Marketplace is where rights holders pitch their event to prospective communities and organizations. A four hour block was set aside on both Thursday and Friday for one on one meetings between rights holders and prospective cities. The prospective communities could shop for everything from pro bowling, senior softball, golf, and assorted AAU championships, to of course the best product there, the TriAmerica Series.
Appointments are booked every 15 minutes during the four hour block. That means 16 consecutive meetings without a break. There was plenty of interest towards our sport, so all my available appointments were booked. It was certainly a challenge to pitch the series non stop for 4 hours straight. I was excited to have the opportunity to meet representatives from so many cities. Some did their homework before we met, coming to the meeting with a list of questions and a printout from our website. A couple were completely clueless and one even looked surprised to find out we would need a swimable body of water capable of holding a one mile swim.
I left the meeting with several strong leads for potential future stops for the series. Now it is time for the prospective cities to really do their homework before submitting their bid proposals by our June 1 deadline.
Posted by Fred at 10:01 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack | More in: Tri America
April 26, 2005
Zoom, zoom, zoom....
I just set a new PR for a trip from the my office to Orlando International Airport. I think I made this trip at least 50 times last year so I have my timeline down to a science. Usually it takes a minimum of 40 minutes to arrive in the parking garage, and if I am forced to travel in rush hour traffic, it could take an hour. Last Wednesday I had a 6:00am flight to Portland. As is often the case before I take off for a multi-day trip, I pulled an all-nighter so I could get as much office work done as possible before I left. Everything was on track for an on time departure from Clermont at 4:00am, until I started encountering troubles with our color printer. You see I had to print out collateral materials for my trip and I did not receive the files until that night. It is amazing how fast time zips by when you start encountering technical difficulties and are on a timeline.
I finally get my stuff printed and head out to the airport. As I leave Clermont I glance down at my watch and am shocked to see that it is now 4:45am. Yipes, I was thinking it was more like 4:20am.
I know it doesn't do any good to keep looking at my watch so I just concentrate on getting to the airport as quickly as possible. My mind plays out all the possible scenarios and what my stragey will be when I get there. My Pathfinder rises to the occassion and I arrive at the airport in record time. My strategy is to drive up to the curbside check in, and then go park. The airline has a 45 minute cutoff for checking in before a flight and this will buy me a few extra minutes. Even though I printed my boarding passes online, I still have to check-in onsite to check my baggage. I bribe the Skycap and he manages to overide the system and was able to check me in. I figure there will be no way my luggage would make it on the same flight, but he assures me it will.
Awesome, now I just need to park, dash into the terminal and hope the the security checkpoint has no lines. It is hit or miss in Orlando. Sometimes you breeze through, other days it takes an hour to weave your way through the lines. Luck is my side and I fly through the checkpoint in record time.
I'm on my way with time to spare!
Posted by Fred at 10:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack | More in: Random Thoughts
Why running can be dangerous to your health...
Drunk locked up for attack on city jogger
A DRUNKEN teenager seriously injured a jogger running beside a city canal when he smashed his head with an aerosol can he had been using to spray graffiti.
The head wound was so serious that the 62-year-old man has been left with permanently damaged vision.
Drunk James Blakely, 18, hit jogger William Chalmers on the head with the can at a Union Canal path near Calder Crescent in Edinburgh on June 5 last year.
Mr Chalmers, who regularly competed in road races and described running as his joy, had been training for a triathlon on the day he was attacked.
Defence agent Angus McLennan told Edinburgh Sheriff Court that Blakely had been at a party and had also taken Ecstasy.
Sheriff Kenneth McIver ordered the teenager, of Saughton Mains Avenue, Edinburgh, to be detained for three years in a young offenders’ institution
Posted by Fred at 11:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack | More in: News
Hey, a real person, what's up with that????
If you've called our office the past couple of weeks, during somewhat reasonable business hours, you may have been caught off guard. We now have a real person answering the phones! Instead of having all calls go directly into our auto-attendant/voice mail system, you'll now be greeted by the friendly voice of Andrea. I know it has already caught many of our frequent callers off guard. It even catches me by surprise when I call in to access my voice mail while traveling. That's the only time you really want to get the auto-attendant so you can punch in your access codes.
This is all part of our new "Athletes First" strategy for 2005. In the past it was always a challenge to catch a real person via telephone at our offices. For some reason athletes picture us being a giant glass building, overlooking Lake Minneola, with an army of employees running around. Yeah right! We have a small staff and we are involved in over 40 major events each year. We've been in the same office for 14 years now. I admit there have been times when we spread ourselves too thin, but my team always steps up to the plate and delivers 200%.
This is the first time we have had a full time dedicated executive assistant and I'm psyched! Andrea was hired so we could give the athletes, our customers, the quality customer service they deserve. This is just the first step in many changes you will be seeing the next few months. Stayed tuned for more details....
Posted by Fred at 04:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack | More in: Random Thoughts
April 25, 2005
Drunken Monkey and the Cherry Bomb....
That sums up what I encountered a week ago Sunday. It was such a fun time that I decided to give it another go this past Sunday. Before those of you with creative minds let your imaginations run wild, I will let you know it was a very demanding and exhilarating experience, and I ended up bloody afterwards.
What I am talking about is mountain biking. Both the Drunken Monkey and Cherry Bomb are parts of the off road trails located in the Withalacoochee State Forest west of Clermont. With numerous abandoned phosphate and lime rock pits, scattered throughout the area, the terrain is as varied as you will find in Florida.
During our most recent excursion, we got turned around while playing in one of the pits. We ended up heading out in another direction and missed our return visit to "Drunken Monkey" and "Cherry Bomb". It also gave me the opportunity to perform my first ever face plant while mountain biking. Thank god for soft sand and my helmet.
I have one more free Sunday until we go non stop with events for 10 weeks or so. This time the Drunken Monkey will be no match for me!
Posted by Fred at 02:24 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack | More in: Random Thoughts
April 15, 2005
Miision Accomplished!
I just completed successful site visits to two of our TriAmerica Host Venues, Hampton, VA., and Louisville, KY. Both cities have been part of the series since the beginning. Brian, our director of operations, accompanied me on the trips. He was amazed at the level of support we receive from these cities. Brian joined our team last summer so he was not part of the pre-event planning meetings that took place with the host communities last year. His only exposure to the pre-planning meetings were those we have for our local Clermont events. He was totally surprised by the outcome of the meetings. The "can do" attitude is quite a change from feeling of just "tolerance" that we seem to encounter here in Lake County and Clermont. It is always refreshing to visit a city that wants you to be there. The nuetral reception we encounter locally is most likely the result of our being here for so long. Our Clermont events have been here for 22 years with very little support from the county and city. Maybe if we left the area they would have a greater appreciation for what we bring to the community. They seem to get excited about new events, even though the events have a fraction of the economic impact our events have. Fortunately for local triathletes and businesses, my roots are very deep here in Clermont and I have no plans to leave anytime soon.
Posted by Fred at 05:20 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack | More in: Tri America
April 10, 2005
The first race is always the toughest...
It is amazing how fast our TriAmerica Clermont race crept up on us. It was our first triathlon of the season, but it was not our first event of the year. We already worked a half dozen races before April rolled around. Most of them were just timing and event support, a piece of cake compared to one of our own events where we do everything. As race weeks go, the week leading up to TriAmerica Clermont was a tough one. To me it almost felt as if it was Great Floridian week, the type of week you do not want to experience more than once a year.
Why was it so tough? To begin with we had some weak links on our team. Tasks that should have been done over the winter went unfinished. The weak links are no longer there, but our office is under-staffed as a result. We also lost one of our key team members last fall (we miss you Barb).
Fortunately we have a strong team, so everyone just multi-tasked and pulled everything together.
To be continued.....
Posted by Fred at 10:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack | More in: Tri America
April 07, 2005
Darn, I'm in, now what do I do...
Confirmation - Dear FRED SOMMER, You have successfully registered for the 30TH MARINE CORPS MARATHON.
What was I thinking here...like I can really run a marathon the week after the GFT. But hey, I need something to motiviate me to train during the summer. I've always wanted to run Marine Corps, but most years it falls on the same weekend as the GFT. This is one of the few years it doesn't, so I decided to give it a shot. It has been at least 7 or 8 years since I last ran a marathon, and I'm up for the challenge!
Posted by Fred at 02:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack | More in: Random Thoughts
