Clydes/Athena's vs. Age Groups (Page 2)

Something that a lot of people have overlooked here is that racing Clydesdale has some potentially significant disadvantages over AG.  Clydes  start in the last wave so if you are fast you spend the whole swim running into slower AGers then most likely a minimum of the first part of the bike.  Additionally theres the risk included in passing a bunch of AG riders or getting into a battle with a BOPer on the bike who knows he'll be fried come the run no matter what.  Something like that can lead to a drafting penalty which will be tough on the podium chase. 

There's positives and negatives out there but in the end this is just fun.  On the topic of personal best vs. hardware... I am 100% for the PB because really the hardware is as much a function of who showed up vs. how fast you went and a PB is all about you.

When I'm 75 I plan on earning my hardware because as we know those are small AGs

Gotta agree.  They're different races; being fast @ the shorter one doesn't mean increasing the distance is the next step.

Like kblahetka, sprinting is NOT my strong suit (not that I'm fast at ANY distance); after doing sprints and an oly this year (my first), I like the oly distance better.  I'll probably only end up doing sprints once in a while 'cause they're so many more of them out there.

Told you. 

Man I have alot of comment.  I just notice all the activity on this thead and wanted to make some points, hopefully this is all understandable.

samsdad - I thought if you can do a sprint in just over an hour, you should be racing OLY's at least.  - I know several people have mentioned that this makes no since and I think their point was just because you are fast at sprints should not mean you should move up to oly, HIM, IM.  I am not a sprint, I am a long distance runner.  My oly this year was faster than my sprints I have done.  I was hoping my HIM would be even faster but that did not work out too well.

biggor - Yes, because I want to see that race when a Clydesdale/Athena will finish 1st overall. I would regret for the rest of my life if I would have finished 1st overall and didn't race Clydesdale ;-)   -  This is so the truth.  My oly I did in July I raced AG just because, had I raced clyde I would have been 1 out of 30 people.  Normally if I race clyde and place there are a small number of people.  1/30 I would not have felt bad placing.

mm5093 - I feel has made the best point out of all of this. If winning a division that is designed for heavier folks places us at the top.  -  Actually the division was not designed for "heavier folks", it was designed for the bodybuilder types from what I have read.  When triathlon first started getting big the bodybuilder types started racing and could not really compete so clyde was created.  BTW, I read this in one of my quarter magazines I get from USAT.

Christris - Clydes  start in the last wave   -   That sucks, my races they usually still start you with your AG.  Either way I don't think it really matters since you could suck and the swim and be way behind and you really never know who you are chancing unlike a run only event.

Just remember just because you sign up as clyde does not guarantee hardware.  I raced clyde in my HIM last weekend and thought I had a great chance to place until about 40 miles into the bike and my legs cramped and I only beat 30 people total.  You never know what is going to happen on any given day.