The Iron Man

Year in and year out, Dirk Bockel travels to the most exotic places on earth - Beijing, Abu Dhabi, Rio de Janeiro - with the simple goal of testing and pushing his body and mind as far as humanly possible.

Dirk is a triathlete.  A world-class athlete.  An Olympian. A take no prisoners, train and compete my ass off, live life to the fullest, everything to the max - athlete.  Oh, and he calls St. Augustine home.

His wife Alicia and her family are from here.  She and Dirk love the vibe of old town, the people, the easy pace, and the ability to hop on their cruiser bikes and grab a beer and burger any time they wish.

Saint Augustine is also Dirk's training base for half the year.  He's easy to spot, especially if he is training on his bike, as his clothes and helmet all carry the national symbol of Luxembourg, a large, red prancing lion.  The bike itself, made by Blue, is the two wheel equivalent of a high-tech Formula 1 car.  A carbon fiber, aerodynamic, custom built rocket ship, designed for maximum performance, and Dirk's office 6 hours every day during his peak training period.

The Super Bowl of triathlons is the IronMan World Championships held each October in Kona, Hawaii.  That's a 2.4 mile ocean swim, 112 mile bike leg, followed by a 26.2 mile run (a marathon).  Dirk finished in 4th place in 2011, with a total time of 8 hours, 12 minutes, 58 seconds.

You can keep track of Dirk on his website www.liveandlettri.com.