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There were several landmarks in the realm of the triathlon bike in 2009. Chrissie Wellington blasted the women’s Iron-distance mark with a 4:40 at Roth. Normann Stadler just missed a similar record by a few seconds there as well. Julie Dibens used the bike to crush the field at Clearwater and to whip good friend Chrissie Wellington in Boulder. Chris Lieto almost reversed the famous title of Lance Armstrong’s first book. It would have been about the bike – if only he has been able to follow his 4:25 at Kona with a sub-three hour run. As always cyclists showed a lot of grit – just look at the pictures of West Point Triathlon competitor Rob Sherry, of the strain on the face of New York Triathlon winner Rebeccah Wassner. There was beauty on two wheels – just check out Charlotte Kolters immaculate white and gold outfit and bike, or Matty Reed’s laser focus look at Clearwater. And there was a thin line between a legal margin between bikes and a four minute penalty, as many at Clearwater found out. Bikes looked good in the countryside of Boulder and on the ultra urban Lakeshore Drive in Chi-town, or in the tropical tree canopies of Hawaii at Ultraman.

Photographs ® by Timothy Carlson

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