TTL x Foreign Rider

Discovering TTL on Youtube in March of 2020 sent me down a rabbit hole in multi-sport I hadn’t been down in a very long time.

I started racing in 1989 and to that date had never seen anything that captured the true essence of the lifestyle of being a triathlete and where the sport is headed. Watching each episode wasn’t so much about racing to me as it was about how we live as multi-sport athletes.

I had dedicated a good portion of my adult life to triathlon with my first Ironman in 1991 and my last one in 2019. It's been a huge part of who I am because it was a lifestyle for me.

It had such an impact on my life, that in 1993 I left my full-time corporate job to start a multi-sport apparel company called Rip N Hammer. This was back in the days when you raced in a mid-riff singlet and swim brief. I stood at many race expos and travelled worldwide, spreading the Rip N Hammer brand to the multi-sport community.

Discovering Eric and Paula was like going back to those grassroots days of triathlon when you hung out and talked about all the cool things that came with training and racing.

TTL films show the real side of the sport. The commitment, the highs and lows, and sometimes we forget the sport is supposed to be fun. It's not about how fast you are - who really cares? It's about being a part of a community with a shared vision. Eric and Paula created a community in multi-sport that I hadn't seen over the 30-plus years of being in and around the sport.

I am so humbled to be a part of the TTL community because it's pure and real. Eric and Paula are changing the landscape of the sport because they are bringing in different elements to it. Mountain biking, trail running, travel, coffee, van life and Flynn.

We wanted to create a collaborative piece that everybody could wear as part of this lifestyle that TTL is spreading around the world.

Something for those early morning swims and pre-race starts when it's still not quite warm out. When you are getting on that plane ride to go to a race or something to pull on after you have just given everything in your being to a race.

That piece that feels like a blanket when you are recovering on the couch … watching TTL films on YouTube ….

~ Ralph Dunning