TriSports.com Blog

Mountain Bike Clinic with Grasky Endurance Coaching

“You are not too old to learn to “bunny hop”” or so Brian kept telling me at last Sunday’s mountain bike clinic that was put on by Grasky Endurance Coaching at Sweetwater Preserve.  Instructors Brian and Jill Grasky and Bryce Phinney did a top job in coaching a mixed skills groups of mountain bikers through a set of skills drills and then took us off to ride.  This was a great opportunity to practice and hone your mountain biking skills with some Pros – or in my case try to actually acquire some basic skills and increased confidence.  Although I have raced twice in the Tour of the White Mountains and the Kona 24 hour race, my actual mountain biking skills are abysmal.  It’s hard to take years of triathlon and road cycling in straight lines and convert that into the wild down hills, boulders and cactus of Arizona mountain biking!  When this clinic opportunity came up I knew it was a must for me!

View of Tucson from Sweetwater Preserve

They offered a workable combination of individual skills drills and actual riding, and with three instructors we were divided up into beginner, intermediate and advanced skill levels, so everyone’s needs were adequately met.

I never mastered the “bunny hop” and even fell in the parking lot trying – but I came away from the clinic with better confidence after the ride and some real instruction on  weight distribution for cornering at low and high speeds, climbing and, of course, the downhill.

Speed is your friend when mountain biking – the brakes are not, especially the front ones!  Everyone participating enjoyed the clinic and left asking for more of these!

This was a lot of fun and a good opportunity to meet other Mountain bikers and get some Pro insight into how it should be done!

Coach Bryce tearing it up at the Deuces Wild Triathlon XTERRA

TriSports.com at the U of A Challenge Course

What defines teamwork and company culture?  Having spent most of my career working for major large corporations that pride themselves on their employee training, company culture and vision, I thought I knew it all.

Last Friday, I was fortunate enough to participate with the rest of the TriSports.com leadership team in a day at the University of Arizona Challenge Course.  Tim and his U of A graduate assistants were amazing in their abilities to relate what was happening on the course physically and mentally to how we relate to each other within our respective departments at work.

As in most athletic adventures and triathlon in particular, it seems to be the norm to want to strike out on your own – individual sport, competitive nature and all.  The AH-HA moment came when we found out that we had to work as a 5 man team to be successful.   Sounds reminiscent of work, right? In most cases, for a company to be successful, departments, hence individuals need to work together – really work together.    What we learned throughout the day was that in any one endeavor each of us had strong and weak moments, moments of fear that had to be faced and moments when leaps of faith and trust in your team were required for success.  Again – reminiscent of work.   The amazing thing was that at the end of the day both TriSports.com teams were successful.  Although suspended 40 feet above the ground definitely brought about moments of fear or self doubt for each team member, I heard nothing but support and encouragement, along with cheers of shared success.  TriSports.com gave the Leadership team a lot more that day than the fun and challenge of the course itself.  We walked away knowing more about what real teamwork and support of each other meant, and what a great payoff that feeling was!  Success of the whole is so much more important than success of any one individual, yet everyone had something critical to give towards that shared success.    As we face the challenges and opportunities of the future, TriSports.com has given us a gift.  We know that as a team, we have the tools and skill set necessary to achieve success.  Once again, the TriSports.com core values of sustainability, integrity, fun, profitability, innovation, performance and efficiency are more than just words on paper.  Seton and Debbie continue to find ways for staff to “live” and “experience” the values so they are truly incorporated into the culture by each and every employee.