One of the fastest-growing sports in America has an award-winning retail store in our very own backyard — the Triathlon Lab on North Catalina Avenue in Redondo Beach.
Since 2004, the family owned and operated shop has been rolling up its old steel doors, remnants of a 1950s gas station. Now converted to sell to the human-powered customer, the store serves as headquarters for every level of triathlete in southern California.
Because the “Tri-lab” is recognized nationally as one of the top ten triathlon retailers, triathletes drive from as far away as Santa Barbara and Orange County to get the latest equipment and professional advice. These men and women, who often travel long distances to compete in races throughout the Southwest, are part of a recent wave of athletes who have contributed to the latest sports research found in shops like the Triathlon Lab.
“It’s a destination-based sport,” says Lloyd Taylor, owner of the Triathlon Lab and a founding member of the Los Angeles Triathlon Club. “It’s a destination-based business.”
The multi-sport event, which includes swimming, cycling and running in immediate succession over varying distances, has seen a meteoric rise in popularity. According to USA Triathlon, the national sanctioning authority on triathlon events, membership numbers have grown from between 15,000 and 21,000 nationally during 1993-2000, to more than 135,000 annual members today.
According to Taylor, it’s only inevitable the numbers will continue to rise with what he calls the “Lance Effect,” an increased exposure to the sport by a celebrity athlete. Less than a month ago in Panama City, Panama, the famous road-racing cyclist, Lance Armstrong, raced his first half-triathlon since his recent retirement from cycling, finishing in second place.
Taylor also had a past before he decided to devote his life to the sport. The Georgia transplant quit his job as an urban planner to pursue a dream of becoming a professional athlete. He competed professionally for three years and subsequently decided to open the Triathlon Lab with his wife, Teresa. During that first year of operation, he did it all, from chief fixit mechanic to sole salesman. If he had to go to the restroom, he had to temporarily close shop.
Over the years, Taylor has expanded the business to two locations and 25 employees. Throughout this time he’s noticed a paradigm shift in the sport; the triathlon movement has shifted from San Diego to Boulder, and from Colorado to Clearwater, Florida. Taylor believes the next stop is here: “Los Angeles is becoming a Mecca for triathlons.”
World-class triathletes have made the Triathlon Lab part of their racing team. Australian Chris McCormack, winner of the Ironman Hawaii World Championships in 2007 and 2010, is the Triathlon Lab’s crown jewel of sponsored athletes. Officially sponsored by the Triathlon Lab since 2009, the owner of more International Triathlon titles than any other triathlete in the world, “Macca” is the first foreign-born athlete to be featured on the Wheaties box, and the second triathlete ever. If you look closely on the box, you can even see the Tri-Lab logo on his bike.
Though the Triathlon Lab sponsors McCormack and professionals like him, their focus is the local tri-club community. To help local racers, the Triathlon Lab boasts their own racing development program; it also hosts clinics and guest lectures, bringing in local coaches and local professionals to share their respective wisdom.
Taylor’s professional racing days are behind him, but his passion now is to mentor others and help them achieve their dreams. He says these dreams are the driving force behind a triathlon movement and a community of athletes from all walks of life, from doctor and lawyer to professional surfer.
“It’s a lifestyle classification,” says Taylor. “If you look on their Facebook profiles, they are triathletes first.”
