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Talmadge and Enthusiastic New Teammates Overcome Early Disappointment at Pacific Coast Triathlon |
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Beautiful Crystal Cove State Park. The park is on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It is incredibly gorgeous landscape, particularly for a triathlon venue.
On this early Sunday morning, September 19, 2010, the weather was dark and misting rain. Talmadge had two new teammates, Adam Oehmke and Chad Hanchett. Adam and Chad hauled Talmadge in his jogger down the steep ramp to the beach. Once on the beach, they transferred Talmadge to the beach wheelchair that the park provided for him on that occasion. The occasion was Pacific Coast Triathlon.
We were all anxious to see the surf. The waves appeared to be getting larger as the morning wore on. When the starting horn sounded, 5-6-foot waves lay in our path. Adam entered the water with Talmadge, and I was beside them. The water was unusually cold, about 58 degrees, and the waves kept coming. Finally, with the help of a lifeguard, Talmadge and Adam got past the surf. I was still trying to catch up to them. As Talmadge tried to navigate the huge swells, I will never forget the look on his face that said, “Are we really going to do this swim?” As I made the decision to abort the swim, another lifeguard came and said he was going to grab me as a big wave toppled over us. Out of the water we came. Adam said he could feel Talmadge’s heart throbbing.
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Welcome to Team Talmadge! |
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Everyone deserves opportunities to live a quality life.
Often it requires thinking in new ways. Not all great journeys begin with a strong and clear picture of the final destination. Sometimes people begin a journey with only a nearby destination in mind. But once they step into the road, they get a clearer view of the possibilities unseen before the start of the journey. And the farther they travel, the farther they see their journey can take them. This is the way it has been with Talmadge Atkins and his mother, Georgia, with their participation in triathlon. |
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Son Continues in Dad’s Bike Shoes |
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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.
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