Get Gay Travel report on Gay Games VIII triathlon

Gay Games VIII in Project Q: Wesley Anderson’s second ‘tri’

We missed this series from Project Q Atlanta when it first appeared, but are pleased to share these stories of Atlantans in Cologne for Gay Games VIII:

Among the more than 9,000 LGBT athletes and artists competing in the Gay Games this week in Cologne are about two-dozen Atlantans, including runner Wesley Anderson.

The 32-year-old also plays softball with the Atlanta Venom in the Hotlanta Softball League and recently joined Front Runners Atlanta. We caught up with Anderson before he left for the Gay Games to discuss gay jocks and his plans to take part in the triathlon and half marathon.

Project Q Atlanta: What’s the most challenging part of your sport?
Anderson: The fact that the half marathon is the last day of the Gay Games. That means you have to eat well and not drink during the week of this amazing festival. That may be tough.

Keep reading HERE.

My Gay Games story: Jamie Roberson, Reston, Virginia

We're keen to hear your stories of your experience of the Gay Games. Here is the story of Reston, Virginia's Jamie Roberson, who wrote us in 2006 about her discovery of triathlon and her plans to compete at Gay Games VII in Chicago. What's your story? Write us!

 In July 2003, I was sitting by a neighborhood pool, pleasantly fluffy-headed from the effects of a smuggled-in adult beverage. After watching lap swimmers go back and forth, I decided, "Hey, I can do that." Two lengths of choppy "freestyle" later, I was breathless and embarrassed. I had just turned 41 and at about 70 pounds overweight, was way too young to feel so old. I remembered being stationed in Hawaii when I was a Navy officer in the 80's; my coworkers were doing what was then called the Tinman Triathlon. I remembered with some shame that I had missed that opportunity and wasted some prime years of fitness. That's when I decided to become a triathlete.

After the beverage buzz wore off, I did some research and was enthralled. I hate to run, and hadn't ridden a bike in decades, but I love to swim. All together, the sum of the three looked way better than the individual parts. I bought some books, starting with "Triathlon for Ordinary Mortals," and found a reasonable walk-to-run program on www.beginnertriathlete.com. Like any good desk-bound non-jock, I made up an Excel chart on my lunch hour and posted it on the side of the fridge. I marked off each day's walk with a diagonal blue line. My dog loved the increased activity, too. My partner, on the other hand, thought that I was insane.

Backing up for a second, I say "desk-bound non-jock" because that's what I am. I've never been an athlete.

Ever. I was an honor student growing up, a band "fag," a nerd. Not that I don't love sports. There aren't many Southerners male or female who don't have a passion for the regional religion of college football. I am and always have been a devoted (non-Southern friends say maniacal) follower of the University of Florida Gators. I just never played sports. I was uncoordinated and uninterested in being sweaty. I couldn't even play softball. Some dyke, huh?

But this triathlon thing had me between the ears. I read and read and read. I walked, then I jogged. I swam in the pool at the county rec center and rode Life Cycles when the weather turned cold. I was even nice to another gym-goer who was as much of a Miami Hurricane as I am a Gator. I bought a bike on eBay. I entered some events.

Ten months later, minus a few pounds of fat that were replaced by muscle, I stood by the pool, ready for my first triathlon. I had competed in the Bethesda, Maryland YMCA tri a few weeks earlier as part of a relay team, but this time it was all on me. Five laps in the pool, 3.5 miles on the bike, and a 1.2 mile run is probably not enough to get any respectable triathlete out of bed on a rainy Sunday morning. For me, though, this was a Big Deal.

One, two, three, four, GO! A nudge on the shoulder from the race director, and into the pool I went. Uh-oh.

Goggles immediately filled with pool water. &$#%!!! I got to the far wall and adjusted, but it was too late. I was over-excited, breathing too hard, and couldn't find the groove I had practiced in so many Total Immersion drills. It was back to freestyle-breaststroke-freestyle and hoping for the best.

I didn't mind the crowded pool lanes, but I really could have done without Mr. Furbag, who kept pulling my shoulder away to pass, especially at congested lane turns in the "snake" formation. Hey, pal, you've touched the side. If you wanna pass me (and the 3-4 others at the edge), go around. Or under. I'll deck you next time.

I figured my swim was toast, so I took the ladder out of the pool and strode out to the transition area. "Wanna go for a bike ride?" I asked the volunteers. Bet they hadn't heard that one all day! Dork.

It had poured rain while we were swimming, but I had put my running shoes and socks under a bucket. Much more pleasant to put on soft cotton. Aaahhh. I slurped some Gatorade (once a Gator...), buckled in, and headed out.

Although it had stopped raining, the road was slick with fresh rain, all of which Godzilla kicked up on my nice fluffy socks. I know that "Godzilla" isn't much of a name for a sleek machine like my QR Kilo, but I was amazed by how much of a beast this machine was (in a good way) after I rode it for the first time. The name just popped into my mind. I put a bendable plastic alligator on the handlebars to ride with me. Geek.

My worries about not being able to properly inflate the tires that morning were allayed somewhat when I realized that a little more rolling resistance might give me better traction on the turns. This was especially important since I primarily train on a rail-to-trail bed. Not too many turns there. But the ride wasn't too hard, and I managed to ride my goal speed of about 15 mph, despite being winded from the swim.

I cruised back into transition and gulped some more Gatorade. Because it was such a short event, I put dual-sided pedals on Godzilla to avoid changing shoes. Uh oh. As soon as I set out ... slosh-slosh-slosh. Runners were already lounging about, eating post-race bananas, and here I was, heading out with water balloons on my feet. Great. But hey, it's only a mile, I can handle it, right?

Then came the Big Uh Oh. Knife-like pain seared up my outer legs from my ankles, while my calves seized up in charley horses. Oh-kay. I can run on knives and charley horses, or I can walk on knives. Walking will take longer. Run, walk, run, limp, walk, run, try not to cry. Quitting is not an option. The charles horses went back to their stall about 100 yards into the course, but the knives just kept going. I just realized that the sooner I got this over, the sooner it would be done. Run, walk, try not to cry. Rinse, repeat.

Finally I finished. My first triathlon was in the books. As soon as I took the shoes off and walked a bit, the knives were gone. The shoes. I should known. I didn't mention buying new shoes over the past ten months because ... I hadn't done it. They had finally given up.

I made some new friends, collected my sodden stuff, and trudged home with no clue about my final time.

Didn't matter. I finished my first triathlon.

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Postscript: Since that day, I went on to complete several sprint triathlons, a 10-mile run,a half-marathon and an Olympic-distance triathlon, the Reston, Virginia Triathlon. This is the distance in which I am competing at Gay Games 2006. Even though it is the morning after Opening Ceremonies, I am NOT missing Opening Ceremonies! I participated in Gay Games New York in 1994 and played in various band-related events.

But this time, there's no band for me. This time, I'm a triathlete.
— Jamie Roberson, Reston, Virginia

Michelle Ferris joins "women in triathlon" website as "virtual bike mechanic"

‎Gay Games Ambassador Michelle Ferris will be contributing to witsup.com, a website for women in triathlon:

2 x Olympic Track Sprint Medalist Michelle Ferris will be our 'virtual bike mechanic'.

Michelle has over 20years of experience in the cycling industry and is part of the Sales & Marketing team at Shimano. She is also the friendly face that a lot of Ironman athletes see on race day when they're having bike difficulties...

So excited to have Michelle and her wealth of knowledge on board the witsup.com team

Best wishes to Kate Rowe on her road to Kona!

Big props to Federation of Gay Games 2011 Volunteer of the Year (and triathlon sports coordinator) Kate Rowe, who took the top spot in her age group at the Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship in Phuket last weekend, earning her a slot for the 2012 Ford Ironman World Championship, held in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

It's a great achievement, all the more so when you know that Kate underwent hip replacement surgery just a year ago!

Interview with trans triathlete Chris Mosier

ChicagoPride.com features this interview with Chris Mosier (see our previous post HERE):

This Sunday August 6th Chris Mosier will be one of over 3,000 athletes competing in the Nautica NYC Triathalon. It is an Olympic distance race consisting of a 1500m swim, 40k bike ride and a 10k run.

Chris is Odwella sponsored and he races on their Active Ambassadors team. This past March he entered a contest to win one of ten sponsorships by a world class fitness company known as TRX. There were over one hundred entries and Chris finished 6th.

What makes this triathlete unique is that Chris was once an MVP in women's sports. Chris a transman made the transition from female sports to male sports just a little over a year ago. Competing as a male in this years Nautica NYC Triathon is the same Triathon he competed in two years ago in the femalehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif catagory.

A native of Chicago now residing in New York, Chris takes some time from his busy training schedule to talk to us about sports, being a trans athlete and tackling social justice for trans athletes.

Keep reading the interview HERE.

KP: Where you an athlete

A look back at Gay Games VIII via Living In the Queer Times: Dawn Keltner

Living In the Queer Times covered the preparation of athletes and artists for Gay Games VIII last summer, as well as the Games themselves. As we approach the first anniversary of Gay Games VIII, we'll be posting snippets from these articles.

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The Road to Cologne: Stories From The Athletes | Dawn Keltner

live in Las Vegas, Nevada. I am 49 years old and I started playing racquetball in 2005. Through a local gay magazine, I found an advertisement for the Chicago games. I signed up to play, even though I was a novice. It was a great experience and I met a lot of wonderful people. I played singles and doubles, taking GOLD in the team event. I learned a lot and did OK but not like I play now. I was fourth in the women’s tournament in Washington D.C. this year. Well, any way, since I had such a good time, I planned not knowing what event I would be able to do, since there is no racquetball in the Germany games.

Keep reading HERE.

A look back at Gay Games VIII via Living In the Queer Times: Richard Sypniewski

Living In the Queer Times covered the preparation of athletes and artists for Gay Games VIII last summer, as well as the Games themselves. As we approach the first anniversary of Gay Games VIII, we'll be posting snippets from these articles.

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The Road To Cologne | Richard Sypniewski

I am a 41 year old single gay man living in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood and will be competing for the second time in the Gay Games 2010 in Cologne Germany. I caught the triathlon bug several years ago when first introduced to the sport with my friends from graduate school at Kellogg. There we competed in a team where I was always chosen to be the swimmer because no one wanted that leg of the race. Swimming in Lake Michigan was not everyone’s idea of fun. I soon loved the sport and began competing in Chicago’s annual triathlon every year for the past 5 years racing the complete Olympic distance. I first competed in the Gay Games 2006 in Chicago. This was an amazing time. The city and organizers did a terrific job of making every aspect of the games truly “Olympic”.

Keep reading HERE.


Update: Richard completed the triathlon in Cologne wiht a time of 03:05:00.

Flashback to Gay Games VIII via Outsports videos: Triathlon

At Gay Games VIII last summer, Outsports produced a series of video reports on various sports. We're pleased to show them here again.

Today, a talk with some triathletes, showing that the Gay Games are for novices or experience athletes, and are an event where even talented beginners can excel:

Trans triathlete wins sponsorship deal

News from Outsports:

Trans triathlete Chris Mosier wins contest, earns sponsorship with TRX

Big congratulations to trans triathlete Chris Mosier, who locked up a sponsorship deal with TRX! He finished sixth out of about 100 triathletes hoping to get a sponsorship deal with the company; They gave deals to the top 10. The contest was based on YouTube video views, and we’re proud to have sent some new fans to him.

Recently in Outsports

As always, Outsports is full of great reports and blog posts.

Check out their feature article on a gay athlete living with the repressive Mormon "honor code" at Brigham Young University.

Earlier features look at the amazing Miami (of Ohio) University hockey program. and the story of a F2M trans triathlete.

Live from Cologne - GayCities.com reports from Cologne

One of my favorite series of reports from Cologne, aside from our own of course (grin), came from GayCities.com Europe Editor Paul Brummitt. He both competed and reported which means he got some nice photos - especially if you like male swimmers in speedos I might add - and some good insight into the Gay Games.

Click below to see his postings, roughly in chronological order:

Dispatch Cologne: Gay Games Get Underway

Gay Games Cologne: On Your Marks

Gay Games Cologne: Gold for a Virgin Triathlete

Gay Games Cologne: Full Speedo Ahead

Gay Games Cologne: Strictly Ballroom

Gay Games Cologne: Synchronize Your Watches to Paris Time

Gay Games Cologne: Lycra Clad Eye Candy

Gay Games Cologne: It's a Wrap

Thanks, Paul, for some great reports from Cologne!

Live from Cologne: athlete's first race in the triathlon ends in a crash

Live from Cologne reported by Hector Torres, Florida

On my first race on the Triathlon, a cyclist crashed into me and I am hospitalized. Feeling better now, but won't be able to do any of my races.

However, I was 5th out of the water, overall, and 3rd in the lead in the bike until the accident. I'll keep you posted.