[I've heard of Biathlon [XC skiing and shooting].]
Duathlon is cycling and running. This would have been probably 2009 or 2010 - I know our kids were pretty young at the time. We were in Sun River for our annual trip with our high school buddies, and we planned it for the exact week that the Pacific Crest Triathlon/Duathlon was going on. So perfect opportunity to compete. Since I swim worse than rocks, I only did the half-ironman length duathlon. This was my first time doing any duathlon.
The whole week we were there, it was hot and sunny. Of course, on the day of the race, a storm blew in. The cycling course went from Sun River up to the Mt. Bachelor ski area and then back into town. I'm a much better cyclist than runner so I was picking off other cyclists during the climb up to the ski area. And then, after it being 90 degrees all week, it started to hail. I pulled out to pass another cyclist, standing on the pedals, and as I crossed the painted lane marker, my rear wheel slipped out. WHAM! I hit the pavement hard. I crack my helmet, break my aero bars, and tear up my left forearm on the pavement. A course marshal sees me crash, comes over to help me up, and I'm kind of dazed. I'm trying to get back on my bike but he won't let me go without a medic verifying that I'm okay since my helmet was cracked. I end up standing there probably 10-15 minutes, dripping blood onto the ground, and finally a medic comes by, asks me who the president is and what day of the week it is, puts some dressing on my forearm, and off I go.
I'm pretty upset at this point - my goal was to break five hours but I thought after that crash, finishing would be good. I find that I'm still passing lots of people and pull into the transition zone at just over three hours. I still have a chance to break five hours!
My arm is really hurting at this point, and the dressing is just soaked with blood. I see where the medic is and want to get everything cleaned up and wrapped before I head out on the run. The transition area was just a wide open parking lot. They had put a barrier to prevent spectators from sneaking in to steal stuff, but where I had my bike set up was only about 50 feet away from where a bunch of spectators were standing. If you know what a padded bicycle short feels like when it's soaked with sweat, you know you really can't run a half marathon wearing what is essentially a wet diaper. So I had a big beach tower to wrap around me while I changed out of it into running shorts.
The descent back down to Sun River was fast and it was cold which didn't help my mood. I pull into the transition area and right next to me are a guy and two gals. I see my wife and kids in the spectator group and I wave at them as I ride to my transition spot. I start trying to change my shorts but my left hand isn't work well from the cold and the pain of my forearm, and I keep dropping the beach towel. The lady right next to me, probably in her late 20's and quite fit and attractive, strips off her bicycle shorts down to au natural without even batting an eyelash. I have to admit that I admired her bikini tan line! She pulls on running shorts, and off she goes. I look at the guy next to me, he kind of shrugs, and he drops trou as well. I look over to the other lady and she's doing the same, and she has great bikini tan lines as well! We're all facing away from the spectators so they got a three moon treat.
In the vein of "do as others do", I said what the heck. I dropped the beach towel, took off my cycle shorts, and added to the moonshine. I mean, none of the four of us were competing for anywhere close to a top spot - we're all pretty much middle of the pack, so I would have thought there'd be a little more discretion. Social pressure is a real thing!
The rest of the story isn't that interesting. I got patched up before my run which took about ten minutes, had a great run, and finished in like 5:05! Missed my goal by five minutes. But whoa, those tan lines....