CaveMan Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Seeded 35th and passed 10-12 people. Able to hold a good pace and get around people at the walls.

Passed three people right out of transition and several others before the first loop was complete. At this point I had not been passed yet and was probably within 12-15 people of the race leader, which was a new experience for me. On one part of the loop you had to go back behind a commercial warehouse area and on the second loop back there it all fell apart for me. I caught up to the person in front of me and was about to pass when they swung wide and I hit what they were avoiding - a giant chunk of concrete. I was going about 23mph at the time and blew out both tires. Totally my fault as I was too clsoe and should have swung out to pass earlier but it still sucked. I didn't realize I blew both tires at the time either. I changed the back tire and wound up pinching the tube between the tire and the rim and it immediately went flat again. I changed it (again) with the second tube I had and took off only to find out my front wheel was flat as well. I went from a 20+mph average to riding the last 2 miles at around 8mph with a flat tire. I'm guessing it cost me 16 minutes or so.

Avoid the chunk of concrete.

Bike locked up when I got off at the dismount line. Wound up carrying it to the rack. I figured out later that I had the brakes rubbing from the tire change.

Avoid the chunk of concrete on the bike loop.

5K PR for a triathlon. Knocked about a minute and a half off my tri from March. Of course, I did get a bit of a rest on the bike since I wasn't hammering it the last few miles but it still felt good.

Avoid the chunk of concrete on the bike course.

The chunk of concrete on the bike course paired with my own stupidity for not being in a position to react faster.


I'll definately be back next year. I was on pace to have my best sprint race yet. My swim and run were both PR's and my bike was right there before the mistake. I'm guessing I would have been around a 1:06 without the unplanned pit stop which would have put me somewhere between third and sixth in my age group. Bummer.