Exclusive Triathlon Clubs

A couple of my friends, who I often run and cycle with, told me how they are striving to gain membership into a local Boston area triathlon club. It's one of those situations where you have to wait to be invited to join. You can't just go online and sign up like I did so easily with my local running and cycling clubs. You have to be asked by a club member. I guess that's OK, but my friends further informed me that they don't just ask you after you've shown your interest by attending a few training sessions. No, it can take one or two years before you are invited. To even hope to ever become a member, one must show the extent of one's commitment by attending training sessions on a regular basis, volunteering at events, bringing home-cooked casseroles (low-fat vegan only, I assume) to their get-togethers, and so on. If you do this for a year, or maybe two, you might have a good shot.

That's why I have to agree with Bike Snob NYC, who recently reminded us that triathletes are actually part of the "freak cyclist" sub-category of cyclists. As he also states, Run/Bike/Swim = Dork/Dork/Dork.

I never want to take the chance of being part of any group that Bike Snob refers to as "freaks" or triple dorks. I feel a lot better now too, because this means I won't have to force myself into a wetsuit and make an ass of myself in some freezing lake. Even in the face of peer pressure, I have the freak/dork excuse to fall back on now, and no one can fault me for wanting to avoid being classified as a freak. Yet, this makes lovely friends freaks. When I'm around them I'll just have to remember not to express my true feelings about the elitist triathlete club they yearn to belong to. They never read my blog anyway; they're too busy uploading data from their 10 workouts/week onto their triathlete training software. But even if they did, I NEVER said I would do a triathlon. They also know that it is of utmost importance to me that I never give the slightest appearance of being a dork, and just because they may fall into that category, it does not mean that we can't be friends.