By Jay Prasuhn
March 19, 2008 -- Since I started with Triathlete in 1999, the only time I'd see Peter Reid was every October on a little island in the Pacific. Seeing the guy pre-race was akin to an Elvis sighting; he was out for requisite sponsor obligations, but outside of that, he was under ground, super-intense, and ultimately very fast on race day.
Now that the three-time Hawaii Ironman Champion has retired from the game, well, he's still fast. But seeing him in a more relaxed setting, as I and a group of triathlon campgoers did in early March, is a unique opportunity few are afforded.
I'm not going to go into how great of a place Tucson, Ariz. is -- I've already gone there. I think it's about time Boulder and San Diego need to bow down to this true training Mecca. Peter has long known the wonder that is training in Tucson. It's in this town where he's crafted Ironman world titles. It's where he could just get away from it all and focus 100 percent on training. So it was no surprise he's been hosting camps out of Tucson the last few years and it's where he conducted a spring camp earlier this month.
Peter was joined by his friend Clint Lien and coaches Paul Cross and Cliff English. This braintrust assembled to give a bright collection of campers tons of knowledge from some of the best in the sport for the Endurance Specialists Camp.
Aside from the celebrity instructors, there were a few special guests. Fellow Canadian Samantha McGlone (2007 Hawaii Ironman runner-up and Cliff English's fiancee), made the trip to Tucson, as did powerhouse biker and newly-sponsored Specialized athlete T.J. Tollakson (2007 Eagleman 70.3 champ), who's in town prepping for Ironman Arizona. The campers had some of the best ride partners they could dream up.
There were classroom sessions aplenty, but being that it was early March, there was ample outdoor training at our doorstep. Thus, while Atlanta deals with freak winter twisters and the Midwest deals with snow, we were riding in the sun.
The one day I joined the campers, the camp had scheduled an easy loop out Tucson's East Side, up ruler-straight Freeman road then six miles up Mount Lemmon to the Molino Basin turnout. It'd been years since I'd ridden up Lemmon, so I was pretty rapt about riding up this beautiful, sweeping incline.
Coming to Tucson, I didn't know the ride plan. I brought my tri bike with and wished I'd brought my road bike. Still, bombing downhill at 44mph on my Specialized Transition—the first time I'd done that descent on a tri bike—was pretty impressive, super stable and confidence-inspiring.
The coaches delivered daily lectures on nutrition and Ian from Specialized delivered some fit info to the campers, who soaked it up like sponges. Between that, they trained, with rides over Gates Pass and runs at Saguaro National Monument East. To run and ride while being dwarfed by saguaros, and flanked by chollas and prickly pears is something I never take for granted—just don't get too close.
The opportunity to catch Peter was one I looked forward to. There was much talk about a return to racing last year at Ironman 70.3 Monaco, but an injury derailed that plan. At this point, he said there will be no return to racing -- period. He has found a new passion, one that he's as myopic about as he was with triathlon: Flying.
He's been up in British Columbia training to fly pontoon planes and finds this to be his unequivocal new love and career path. I asked how flying would earn him a salary and he explained that the flights would be to deliver such things as blood, body organs or urgent mail to tiny outcroppings in B.C. As he talked about it, you could tell he truly is excited about where this will take him.
From all this I could also gather that no, there won't be a comeback. He enjoyed his career, but has full closure and is moving on to the next chapter of his life. It happened to Brett Favre just as it happened to Peter. Both were at the top of their game, but the pressures, stresses and expectations, whether personal or external, were just too much. So it was time to go out -- on top. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks he could take another title or two in Hawaii, but it comes down to the desire to put in the ungodly work to earn that title.
I for one am truly happy that he has found something that made him as happy as racing. Peter has always been one of my favorites and the one guy who "out-tech'd" me when it came to tweeking about bikes. I was stoked to see him at Interbike a year ago for the first time. I knew it was a place he'd wanted to go, but that damn race in October was always in the way every year.
I think Peter's time in triathlon, even in this camp capacity, is soon coming to a close, on his terms. It's his right and is well deserved. Thanks for the great ride, Pete. It's been a pleasure to watch you do what you do best, and now some lucky Canadians will have a world champion delivery pilot on their hands.
For more info on the camp, including interviews and photos, visit Jay's blog
HERE