When we met Julian Caldera in 2004, he had just turned 13. He came with his dad Tim to watch Talmadge compete in a TriEvents triathlon on the North Shore at Bonelli Park. It was the first time either Julian or his dad had watched Talmadge race. Actually, it was only Talmadge’s second triathlon. At the time, Julian was a pudgy little kid sporting red Hawaiian print shorts. He helped when he could — holding the front wheel of the tandem as it came off to load it in the car.

One year later Tim was captaining Talmadge’s tandem recumbent at the same race. Alongside his dad and Talmadge was Julian on his mountain bike, riding support in case anything awry happened on the course.

Fast forward to 2009. Julian has now turned 18 and graduated from high school. Talmadge now has a tandem road bike. Wouldn’t it be great, Tim thought, if Julian could ride with Talmadge this year, and he (Tim) could ride support? Julian rose to the occasion. There was never any doubt in his mind that he could do it. He had practiced with Talmadge on the tandem road bike, and he knew Talmadge well after 5 years of spending time with him. Both Tim and Julian are extremely coordinated on a bicycle, being able to maneuver the tandem through tight spaces and easily make a 360-degree turn with the long bike.

Thanks goes to the Caldera/Olsabeck family for supporting Talmadge’s triathlon adventures — to Tim and Julian for riding and to Robert for taking photographs and lending a hand. It’s fun racing with you.