Friends

San Diego beaches. They seem so far away!

I used to marvel at my Dad. Every time I would travel somewhere with him, Bogota, Miami, Toronto and more, there would be someone who treated him like a brother. I thought he just had this huge group of friends and it was impressive to me. They always greeted hime with a warm smile and a firm hand shake. You could tell it wasn't fake buddy, buddy stuff.

Just recently I myself ran into a need and I called on Friends. Three of the most notorious guys in the crazy sport I love. An Agent, A tycoon and an inventor. Just about everyone in the sport of triathlon knows them or knows of them. So I needed some help and emailed them individually with some questions. I figured I should tap into wide knowledge so I emailed them different questions. In less then a week the three of them have answered my questions and given me more than I asked for. Sure I work for a big brand and they stand to make money if the Big Brand plays in the little sport. But I don't think they answered from their pocket. They answered because of 20 years of relationship building with them. When you have suffered on a Bike ride for hours with each of them you tend to trust each other. That trust and friendship came back 20 years later 3000 miles apart from each other.

I get now what my Dad was doing. It helps to make Friends along the way.

One other note about the three. They are really hard on the outside. They are actually individually totally cool guys. The hard exterior is all a front.

It's a good life...
Dave