The Life of Pizza John

I may not have qualified for Kona this year, but I got my spot to Maui!  After what ended up being an 'interesting' race, I got third in my age group.  The riding at Oak Mountain State Park is fun!  They have a lot of great single track.  Lots of easy stuff and plenty of hard riding as well.  I got up to Pelham, AL a few days early to ride the course and relax.  I was impressed they had most of the course marked two days before the race so people knew where to go.  When I rode the course a few weeks prior, I thought Boulder Ridge and West Ridge where a part of the course so I rode them and did not like them at all!  They were way too technical for a race.  Once I rode the official course, I was super please with it.  A couple technical spots, but for the most part, really fun, easy riding. The morning of the race it was pouring rain as I was setting up in Transition.  I got there early so I could get one of the end spots on a r...

What an amazing Venue!  I am already excited to go back next year. I first got to St Croix Friday evening.  David picked me up from the airport and we headed to town.  The Jump Up festival was just winding down so I headed to my hotel to leave my bags.  I stayed at the Holgar Danske and until later, I didn't realize I was right on the water!  It was a great location for the race; close to transition and close to everything I needed.  I got situated and decided to grab dinner.  I ate at the hotel bar and it was delicious but expensive. Checkin on Saturday was fun and interesting.  It was in a hot room and the volunteers were all soooo nice!  Plus, where do they give you a bottle of rum for doing a race?!?  I thought that was awesome! I did have a little bike issue on Saturday.  One of the pins in my read drop-outs got bent so my tire was rubbing.  I couldn't find another pin, but a local mechanic bent it back for me and I...

For the first two uses of my TYR Torque Pro, I loved it!  It definitely made me faster in the water and it is super comfortable.  I never got any rashes and it didn't rub wrong anywhere.  When I put it on, I feel like I just glide effortlessly through the water.  Well this was until it's third use at Ironman St Croix this year.  Everything was going as planned until I got into T1 and started to take the Torque off.  I pulled the rip cord and the zipper stuck on the fabric and broke right off!  This was an issue because I needed to get it off to finish my race.  I had no choice but to squeeze myself out of the top of it.  In the process, I tore one of the shoulders.  Not only did my transition take a lot longer than it should have, but I was bummed that my barely used TYR Torque was ruined. I finished my race and figured I would just email TYR when I got home.  I asked my coach for the receipt since he bought it at the Kona Expo l...