Well, last weekend was the first winter triathlon of my triathlon season…it was a REALLY good time. I was debating as to whether to go or just skip it, as I was feeling kind of crappy for several days leading up to the race, but I figured that I would tough it out since I already paid for it. The weather cooperated much better than last year, with temperatures in the high 20s to low 30s at race time. This contrasts to the much colder temps last year; so overall it was really nice. There were a couple course changes from last year, which included reducing the number of laps on the bike, and separating the bike and run to more different courses.The race of course starts out with a run on snow. I wore a pair of spikes which I got off of Ebay for $0.99 plus shipping; and I put the biggest/longest spikes I could find in them. They worked just fine, as I was wearing some waterproof socks over a pair of double layer socks. I was nice and toasty once we got moving. I had a little company for the first lap, but we seemed to spread out a little bit more on the second lap of the run. By the end of the run, it was myself and one other fellow who were out in front.
From there we jumped on the bike…well if I had a decent transition, I would have jumped on t
he bike. I seemed to be all thumbs. Oh well, such is the way it goes some times. I was using the new snowbike; which was an upgrade from my $0.89 ebay special I rode the past three years. The wide tires were totally awesome on this snow. They really provided a great amount of float, and I was able to ride where others were pushing. After the first lap, there was only one person in front of me…this was a place that I was not expecting to be; and I was not for much longer. I had a mechanical on my new bike…this being the third time I had ridden it. Somehow the chain tensioner bolt had worked itself out. I am totally unfamiliar with this, and thus did not know to look for this in my equipment prep. So there I was, wondering how I was going to make this work, as I had no tools, and no way of making it ‘go’ despite numerous attempts. The thought did cross my mind that maybe I was going to call it quits, being as how I was feeling that day, but I figured that I would push, and try to find someone with a tool. After a bit, I finally found a kind soul that allowed me to borrow their allen wrench tool. After about twenty more seconds, I was off once more. Total time lost…somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 min. What a bummer
.I finished the rest of the bike without much further incident (with the exception of three ‘diggers’ I took trying to say too close to the soft edge of the trail), and was glad once again that I had such wide tires. One more botched transition, and I was off to the ski portion. I soon realized that there were a bunch of fellows in this race that actually knew how to ski! I was passed by three guys, and was almost able to catch up to one guy in front of me, but I just did not have it in my legs that day. There are three little uphill sections which require you to work, and my legs just were not interested in the ‘w’ word. I ended the race in 9th place, which is not too bad in, based on the way I was feeling today. Without the mechanical, I think that I might have been in the top 5, but more likely than not, I would not have cracked the top 3. If success is measured in fun, I won by and far. It was a great fun race. I just hope that someone got a picture of that one ‘over the handlebar’ crash that I had right near the transition area. I am thinking that I must have had a big smile on my face.
Next up: Weston Ski Track in Mass. Will there be snow? The answer seems like ‘yes’, but it will probably not be the real stuff. Stay tuned.
