TriSports.com Blog

Being a Green Business

One of our water harvesting tanks

• Dual light controls in office spaces, along with plenty of natural light, so everyone thinks twice before flipping those switches.
• Zoned A/C throughout to ensure that only the spaces being used are being cooled.
• Extensive recycling – the recycling container is about 4x larger than the trash container, and it doesn’t stop with paper. We recycle the pallets that bring our shipments to us, the boxes that come in our back door, clothing, shoes, bike parts and more!
• Commuter program which encourages employees to bike to work by giving them a credit for every mile they commute, along with contests and awards to make it fun and interactive.
• Herman Miller furniture throughout, most of which is made from recycled material and can be recycled after its useful life.
• Carpet tiles made from recycled materials, which also make it easy to replace small areas rather than having to entirely re-carpet if something were to damage it.
• Greenbox program which gives our customers the option to receive a recycled box and packing material instead of new (about 90% of our customers choose this option).
• Shoe collection program which donates collected shoes to a local non-profit for reuse within the Tucson community.
• Bike parts are donated to Resource Revival to be re-made into art and awards.

Mel, one of our many employees who commute, parks her bike.

The Nation’s Triathlon, AKA My First DNF

This season was not my season. I alternate seasons with my husband, Seton, so that we don’t struggle over who gets to train when, who was supposed to take the kids to school, etc. It’s just easier this way when you work together, live together and both want to compete. When I forwarded Seton the email offering USAT members first dibs to register for the Nation’s Tri in DC (which always sells out) and he said I should do it, too, I jumped at it. I knew it wouldn’t be an ‘A’ race, heck, it wouldn’t even be a ‘C’ race, just a “for fun” race in an historic city I had never visited. Besides, if we were both racing, we couldn’t take the kids, so good excuse for an adult-only vacation! Sure enough, as race weekend approached, my training was comprised of commuting to work at TriSports.com on my bike, running about 30 minutes a couple of times a week and I had swum, oh, about 3 times total since IM CdA in June 2010. Given that this would also be my first Olympic Distance event (I had somehow managed to skip that distance through the years), I knew that it would not be my best performance.

Fast forward to race week…we get an email telling us the swim has been cancelled. DC has received rain for days and days, increasing the flow of the Potomac to the point where a good swimmer would be able to swim in place and a slow one would end up in the Chesapeake Bay. Seton’s cursing since that’s his strong point; me, I don’t care so much other than that I now can’t say I have completed my first Oly. Dang! Luckily, the rain pretty much stopped when we arrived on Friday and we were able to enjoy the sights and play tourist. Even after bike check on Saturday, we were able to rent bikes from one of the many city bike stations around town and cruise around. I was fighting off an illness and feeling pretty yucky, so I didn’t even know if I’d race come Sunday. But Nation’s Tri is the largest triathlon in the world (they hold the Guinness Book record), so I wanted to experience all it had to offer. So far, everything had been seamless. Packet pick-up was a breeze, the expo was a good mix of vendors, communication was excellent and signage made it easy to always find your way. 

Sunrise over transition and the Washington Monument

Race morning.  I didn’t feel horrible, so I got my you-know-what out of bed and over to the venue. This race is always held the 2^nd weekend of September, which caused the race to fall on the 10^th anniversary of the September 11^th attacks. Being in this city on this day, with a dedicated wave for military and first responders, was pretty emotional. I have never “heard” such silence as the National Anthem was sung. It was a perfect race day, the event organizers had dealt with the lack of a swim by creating start corrals which worked well and we were off!  Seton started before me, allowing me to take many photos as he began his day. He is in arguably the best bike condition of his life right now, with the run not too far behind, so he was planning for a fast day.

Seton & Debbie all smiles pre-race

I sat around for almost an hour, then it was my turn. I felt good and settled into my aerobars, realizing that I hadn’t been on this bike in over a year, but it felt good. I saw Seton heading back about 10 minutes after I started, so I knew he was going to be close to a sub-hour 40K. This is a HUGE event, so lots of debris on the road. I was doing a good job of missing it all and was actually passing most of the ladies with whom I had started. I reached down to replace my bottle after taking a swig of my Infinit, when disaster hit. My attention briefly off the road in front of me, I bumped something. I still don’t know what, but it was enough to pop my right foot out of my pedal. With my right hand off the bars and my right foot out of the pedal, all of my weight was on the left side of the bike and CRASH! It was like slow motion, noting each body part as it hit the ground, feeling the shock as my head slammed into the pavement, then realizing I had stopped, I wasn’t dead and I needed to get out of the way before someone crashed into me. Everyone was great, yelling out to make sure I was OK, and there were two volunteers on me by the time I made it to the curb. I did the quick inventory, and everything seemed to work, but I had rung my bell pretty hard and my day was over. I had never DNF’d a race, so that was disappointing, but it wasn’t important enough for me to continue. I did finally end up slowly riding back to transition after getting treatment on-course, simply because I didn’t have the patience to wait for the SAG following the last rider (slap on the wrist for me). Then came the long process of finding Seton because he had no idea I had wrecked and was probably waiting for me to finish. Turned out he ran the whole run course backwards looking for me and finally figured out that I had dropped out and went to find his phone. Once reunited, we grabbed some food, hit the awards (my only real complaint…they changed the time because of the swim cancellation, but never noted that on any of their emails, so Seton missed going up on the podium. They had updated everything else, why not that?), then collected our things and rode back to the hotel.

Me being cared for post-crash

The most shocking thing to me after wrecking (this was my 2^nd wreck ever) is the condition of my helmet. It is an ABSOLUTE MUST to replace your helmet after any crash, even if you can’t see any physical damage. Any blow to the head, however minor, causes all kinds of things to go on within the microscopic confines of your helmet. It is designed to protect your noggin, but after it does that once, things change and the foam doesn’t react the same and will not protect you the same in a subsequent crash. The foam also breaks down over time, so if you are one of those holdouts from the 80s (heck, 90s, early 00s), it’s time to get a new lid. This crash resulted in my helmet getting pretty dented and cracking through in 5 places. Needless to say, my new Lazer Helium is on the way! And I guess I’ll pick another Oly next year! 

Helmet Damage

Outside Magazine names Tucson a “Cyclist’s Paradise”

Way back in August of 2010, Outside Magazine named Tucson the Best City for Road Biking.  With “winter” upon us, it seemed a good time to bring some attention back to this accolade.  Tucson is, indeed, without equal when it comes to the varied routes one can ride within 30-45 minutes of any part of town.  The hardest part for someone doing a cycling vacation here is deciding which rides to do and which to save for next time!  If you are visiting and looking for a great route resource, check out Desert Journeys.  From great climbing routes like Mt Lemmon, Madera Canyon and Kitt Peak, to easier rides like Old Spanish Trail, River Rd and Oracle, combined with virtually 365 days of good riding weather, Tucson truly is a “cyclist’s paradise.” 

Riding Freeman Road in Tucson

Endurance sports training camps galore descend on Tucson from about January through April to experience the Winter Training Capital firsthand, and TriSports.com is lucky to be involved in many of them.  We LOVE to help camps determine routes, host them here at the store and provide whatever help we can to make their Tucson experience one to remember.  We even have our own Tucson Training Destination Specialist to help the individual or camp with things like accomodations, restaurants, routes and more!  But cycling is only one of the many attractions mentioned when Outside Magazine picked Tucson.  They also mentioned our low unemployment rate (nearly 2% below national average) and our low cost of living (35% below San Diego).  Even better?  Our clean skies.  The American Lung Association puts Tucson as the 6th cleanest city when it comes to air particulates.  In addition, they loved our easy-going attitude and open-mindedness when it comes to diversity.  All of this makes Tucson not only a great place to visit, but an awesome place to call home!

TriFest 2011 in Review

TriFest 2011 kicked off the triathlon season for TriSports.com this past weekend!  It was an exciting weekend filled with the kind of fun that makes triathletes drool.  The weekend started off with a ride up the famed Mt Lemmon on Friday morning.  About 100 people made it to the base, with a vast majority of them ascending to some point on the peak.  The ride was supported by the SRAM Neutral Race Support vehicle and the TriSports.com truck, and Cervelo was on hand to provide bikes to test out on this challenging ride.  Most members of Team TriSports.com were on hand to meet the rest of the team and participate in some great events just for them (more on that in Jaclyn’s blog on 3/15!).

Ascending Mt Lemmon at TriFest 2011

On Saturday, we had over 40 different brands represented by manufacturers, plus 9 community partners, including USAT!  Customers were able to wander through the expo and speak directly to the vendors about their products.  We reduced waste by providing everyone in attendance with reusable TriSports.com water bottles and having a water station set out rather than having tons of disposable water bottles, and it was a hit!  Some of the highlights…Orca USA provided a great taco lunch for everyone, Sister Madonna Buder had a book signing and Q&A, there was a Chi Running Clinic and a great swim clinic presented by Grasky Endurance.  Check out a review of the products in our TriFest feature on TriSports University on 3/15!

TriFest 2011 expo

We topped off the weekend with a great VIP party for our vendors, sponsored entities and our community partners where Louis Garneau was awarded the first ever Vendor of the Year award!  Louis Garneau was chosen for many reasons, some of which include nearly a 100% shipping and invoicing accuracy rate; reaching out to partner with us on innovative projects; freight incentives to get us product quickly; and a very similar set of Core Values to our own, setting employees, customer service, community support and the environment as some of their key focuses.  Congratulations to Louis Garneau, and thanks to all of our vendors for their support and help making TriFest 2011 a huge success!

TriFest 2011 VIP Party

Clowning Around at Phoenix Children’s Hospital

Triathlon is very important to us, and so is our community.  Occasionally, an opportunity within our community comes along that has nothing to do with triathlon, but the message is so powerful that we can’t say no.  The Executive Clown Corps is one of those opportunities.  We got involved with this organization a few years ago and it has been extremely rewarding.  The Executive Clown Corps is a group of executives who take some time out of their lives to don clown make-up and costumes and do their best to add a little fun to the lives of sick children at Phoenix Children’s Hospital.  The latest event was actually to honor the employees of PCH for their efforts at raising funds to help pay for the expansion of the hospital.  We dressed as mimes and served up delicious hors d’oeuvres and desserts to the staff as they awaited the announcement of the final tally and the winning department.  Some of the kids did come down to visit, as well.  I spoke a little with Leyla Marie Falcon, a young lady fighting a tumor in her brain, and she was in great spirits! 

Visiting with Leyla Marie Falcon

One of PHC’s long-time patients, Richard, gave a speech thanking the staff for the devoted care through his battle with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.  It was a great event to honor the staff that takes such good care of so many sick children.  A large heart was also constructed for everyone to write their Valentine’s wishes for all of the children.  Overall, the staff raised $356,951.00!   Looking forward to our next “clowning around” event!

Executive "Clowns" with Richard

Announcing TRIFEST 2011

TRIFEST is kicking off the multisport season at the TriSports.com Retail Store in Tucson, AZ on March 12th, 2011!   TRIFEST will showcase the newest and greatest electronics, bikes, apparel, gear and more for the 2011 season.  Manufacturers will be on-hand to show and demo their new products and answer questions.  In its fourth year, TRIFEST has morphed from its original large format conference/expo-style event to a smaller, grass roots store event to give consumers better access to the manufacturers and the products, as well as the ability to purchase those products on-site.  TriSports.com Sponsored Team Athletes will be gathering from around the country for a training camp, and will join the traditional Mt. Lemmon ride scheduled for the morning of March 11th.  TriSports.com will also be announcing and opening membership for the new TriSports Triathlon Club.  Other associated events include a USAT Duathlon Nationals Course Preview with Grasky Endurance and packet pick-up for athletes participating in the Tucson Bicycle Classic, presented by TriSports.com.

Everyone is welcome to join the ride to Mt Lemmon (it will be no-drop to the base), as well as come out to see all the new gear for 2011!  Hope to see you at TRIFEST 2011!

TriSports.com selected as a Top 100 Retailer

Each year, Bicycle Retailer conducts a survey of the sales representatives of leading bicycle and accessory brands to learn who they feel are the best specialty bicycle retailers out of the 5000+ that exist in the country.  These retailers are selected because they excel in three areas: market share, community outreach and store appearance.  In 2010, TriSports.com made the list, and we are thrilled that our reps consider us one of the best in the industry!  Check out the whole article here.

TriSports.com is a 2010 Top 100 Retailer

A Year of Excellence

TriSports.com just celebrated the end of the year with a party and our annual passing along of the commuter awards, as well as crowning our 2010 Employee of the Year.  The end of the year is a fun time for us.  Everyone is in the holiday spirit, we have our Secret Santas scurrying around leaving gifts and it’s 80 degrees in December (sorry to rub that in if you are somewhere cold)!

Our commuter program rewards employees who ride to work with credits towards equipment for their bikes, and boy do they ride!  We are on track to break 44,000 miles this year, up almost 10,000 from 2009.  Awesome!  We have some cool awards custom-made by CEO Seton Claggett that are passed along each year to the employee who travels the most miles and the employee who makes the most trips.  Long-time Warehouse Fulfillment employee Steve Moore-Miller took home the distance trophy this year, with Tom Demerly, our master of TriSports University, winning for the most trips.  These guys are amazing, as are all of the crew here who put the miles on their bikes instead of their cars each day.

Tom Demerly & Steve Moore-Miller are commuting kings!

Now, we have many, and I mean many, fantastic employees.  Four years ago, we began selecting an Employee of the Year because, even among all the great folks who work here, there is always that one stand-out, that one person who exemplifies all of our core values, does everything with a smile, and would basically get run over by a bus for TriSports.com.  OK, maybe not the bus part, but you get the idea!  The cool part is that every one of the employees chosen as an Employee of the Year are still here at TriSports.com working to always give you an excellent customer experience.  This year, that person is Matt Duffin.  Matt has been with our company since August of 2006 , starting in Order Fulfillment, moving to Receiving and now holds a Buyer position.  He tackles any job, regardless of how difficult or mundane it might seem, he is a self-starter who looks for ways to improve existing processes and works well with everyone.  We are extremely proud to have Matt on our team!  Congratulations, Matt!

Employees of the Year (from left to right) - Matt Duffin (2010), Alison Kablack (2009), Zachary Crumbo (2008) & Bobby Thomas (2007)

Ruskin Elementary School Teaching a Healthy Lifestyle

TriSports.com does not only support triathlon races, clubs, teams and athletes; we also see the importance in teaching our youth that making healthy choices now will result in a healthier lifestyle later.  To this end, we often help out various youth and school programs that make an effort towards teaching kids these valuable lessons.  Ruskin Elementary is one of these schools, and they exemplify the dedication that teachers and parents have towards helping their children learn about being healthy.  When Ruskin was starting out with their goal of creating healthy children, we supported them in their Fitness Expo, and since then, their program has grown into a benchmark of what exercise and healthy eating can do for young children.

Ruskin kids exercising

This year, they received their region’s award for the 2010 Governor’s Challenge  for “outstanding efforts to promote fitness for students, parents and teachers.”  More than 2400 schools competed for this honor, and only 11 regional winners were selected, so Ruskin is definitely doing something right!

Ruskin receiving award

A ride to last a lifetime – CAF Qualcomm Million Dollar Challenge

I have just returned from a 620-mile bike ride from San Francisco to San Diego to benefit the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF).  To say that it was a great experience would be far under-selling this event.  It truly was a ride to last a lifetime, though I do hope to participate again in the future.  The scenery was fantastic, everything from rugged mountains to beautiful coastline.  CAF is in its 17th year and began as a way to raise money to help a friend who had become a quadriplegic in a tragic accident during a triathlon.  Little did they know that what they started then would become such a wonderful organization devoted to helping people with disabilities pursue an active lifestyle through physical fitness and competitive athletics by providing them the specialized equipment and training they need to succeed.  From every dollar raised, over 81 cents goes towards achieving this goal!

Debbie Claggett at QMDC ride start

The Qualcomm Million Dollar Challenge (QMDC) was created in order to fund a state-of-the-art facility that CAF could call home, hoping to raise $5 million in 5 years.  This was the 5th year, and in those 5 years, over $6 million was raised!  It truly is a world-class event.  From the time I arrived in San Francisco to the time I reached San Diego, every need was anticipated and met.  The CAF team made the logistics look easy, but organizing an event for over 150 people in a different venue every night calls for some pretty major planning.  Mechanics from OnSupport were on hand to build up the bikes that were shipped in, help us out on the road and to check our bikes out each day after we finished riding.  They really had their work cut out for them this year as rain pelted us most days.  Luckily I had grabbed a Louis Garneau Clean Imper Rain Jacket before I left! 

The greatest part about this ride were the people.  We had 13 challenged athletes on the ride, all doing the same miles as the rest of us.  It’s amazing how a common goal can bring people together.  In most instances, the rain we got would have benched most people…I know I never would have chosen to ride in those conditions at home.  But when you see David Lee, or Muffy Davis, or Andy Hatcher, or any one of these athletes getting on their bikes without complaint, you follow and have fun doing it. 

The Big Guns - Muffy Davis, Fred Liebel, Kelley Fox and David Lee

It was an adventure, one that included many new friendships, and one that will live on in my memory forever.  I am proud that TriSports.com and TriSports Racing have chosen to support this organization.  I highly recommend doing something like this for whatever you are passionate about…it sure reinforces your commitment to helping them succeed when you see the benefits of your donations firsthand!  Your life will be touched in ways you never believed possible.

Debbie Claggett & Andy Hatcher complete the QMDC and are welcomed by Cody McCasland