You came to Triathlon with a cycling background. Tell us a little about that:
I raced bicycles as a teenager back in the mid- 70’s in Southern California. I raced both road and at the Encino Velodrome, which was near my home. Cycling was somewhat obscure, almost a counterculture sport in the US back then. I’m still in contact with a few of the guys I raced with 30+ years ago, they all still ride. One of my old racing friends has a teenage son who is really talented; I can see how he has inherited his dad’s competitive spirit. After I stopped bike racing, I did a number of other sports and ended up spending about ten years as a pretty consistent climber, with regular trips to Joshua Tree, Yosemite, Canadian Rockies and Alaska. I climbed rock, ice and big wall at a respectable level and found that I really enjoyed the outdoors and long climbing days.

Tell us about how you got introduced to triathlon:
I joined a start-up hedge fund in the summer of 1997, and their headquarters was in Bermuda. As a "team building" exercise, almost everyone in the firm raced the Bermuda Sprint Distance Triathlon. I almost drowned in the swim but was hooked! I found that a lot of the things that bring success in climbing work well in the sport of triathlon; focus/consistency, a willingness to tolerate discomfort, and the ability to break big projects down into a series of small, do-able pieces.

How did you hear about this club?
I live in Harrison, and a lot of my friends/training partners in lower Westchester are members. It's great to have a supportive, enthusiastic, (and somewhat irreverent) group to help you keep your motivation level high. They take the sport seriously, but don’t take themselves too seriously. It’s a competitive club; WTC members regularly bring home hardware from the races.

You’ve raced the Hawaii Ironman World Championships twice. What’s that like?
I’ve done five Ironmans, which for our club are not all that many, but have been fortunate to race in Hawaii twice. It is an amazing, and humbling experience. The race takes over the town of Kona for a couple of weeks every October with people coming from all over the world to race against the world’s best. You think you’re a pretty good triathlete, you win a slot to Kona and when you get there you realize it’s a whole other level. There is a lot of positive energy and you just hope that your training was the best it could be and that you will have a good race. Both times race day brought surprises, both good and bad, but coming down the last quarter mile on Ali’i drive, with thousands of spectators and the best finish line in the world at the end… there’s just nothing like it!

What are your plans for 2008?
Unfortunately my plans for 2008 are all centered on recovery. I was hit by a car in January and sustained some significant injuries. It is now May and I still have a some months ahead of me. The last few months have been tough, but I’m just taking it one step at a time and doing what the doctors tell me I can do. Plans for 2008? Heal up and get healthy! Then we’ll see.