Musselman Aquabike - Aquabike

My goal was a 30 minute swim. I thought with a wetsuit and drafting, I could do that. I actually had asked rstocks if he would mind if I drafted off him for the swim. He said that was fine. So I would try that.

The waves were 3 minutes apart. Really very short. We had to wade out to the start in that time. I barely had time to warm my wetsuit before the horn went off. We pushed off. I looked for Bob. He was dolphining. I lost him in the crowd and never saw him again.

The water is very shallow at the start. I was swimming. And it could not have been a minute into the race when my right hand scraped the bottom. I felt a sharp sting in the tip of my right middle finger. I knew I had cut it on some zebra mussels. Well, nothing to do but continue on.

Without a swim warmup, I knew the first few minute would be tough. So I kept my pace in check and breathed mostly every 2 strokes.

By the time I reached the first buoy, I started catching up to the wave in front. I had to negotiate other swimmers pretty much the whole race. I was on the outside right going out. And with a left hand turn around the first buoy, I almost overshot it. I was just swimming along. Hmm, no one around, should look up. Good call. Only overshot by about 15 feet.

Much more towards the sun on this leg, but not directly into it. I was a touch off in my navigation in this leg, but not too bad. Mostly, swim along, try to find open water. Avoid getting kicked.

Third leg was right into the sun. Without the crowd to follow, I would not have been able to see the next buoy. Just swim toward the sun. Hmm, where is everyone? Ahh, I am a touch inside the line. Gotta veer out a touch.

It was about this time that I felt like I loosened up and was swimming well. About 15 minutes in, I had warmed up. I actually felt stronger and better the further I went in the swim.

We entered the channel. It gets more and more narrow as you go along. Early in this stretch, there was plenty of open water. But the crowd got thicker and thicker. Make the last left turn up the narrow part. This was constant bodies to negotiate.

Get to the boat ramp. I swam until I could not go further. Stood up and started running. Garmin said 30:42. Got off my goggles. I took the Garmin off its quick release band and worked on getting the top off the wetsuit. On the jog to transition, I got this done.

I had a good swim. I controlled myself well. I built my pace and effort as I went along and got settled in. One of these days, I'll find a good draft. But not today. While I did not reach my 30 minute goal, I was still very happy with the result.

Looking at the results, I was about 80th overall for the ~860 people who finished either the aquabike or full half.

I took my time here in T1. I sat down and got my wetsuit off. Put on my bike shoes. Stand up and put on helmet and sunglasses.

I noticed that my finger was still bleeding. I had a small hand towel and I wiped off my fingers and hand in that. But they were bloody again rather quickly. I thought about taking the towel with me to put pressure on it, but it was too big to really carry. So I just left it.

I grabbed the bike and a banana and headed for the exit.

Not much.

I had ridden the course twice this summer, so I knew it fairly well. I wanted to take the portion on 96A at a fair pace, but not too hard. the cross road would be a good time to get in nutrition. On 414, I wanted to pick it up and make some time. Recover on the downhill to Cayuga. Maintain a fair effort down 89, not blitz the legs on the hill, take it easy back to 96A. Use the downhill to recover. Not push too hard through the park. Then hammer it home once on smooth pavement after the park.

I brought 6 gels and wanted to take one about every 20-30 minutes, the last while in the park. Along with 24 ounces of gatorade endurance, this would be about 1000 calories. Success on this front.

Final goal was to try to maintain about 210 watts. I thought I could probably do that. And I did.

I left transition and had to move well beyond the mount line to get a clear spot. I was able to eat the banana while still in the park. I tossed the peal in the bushes on 96A.

There were a lot of bikes on 96A. I usually did a fair job of keeping my power in check. But it was tough keeping the power down when I had to pass people. But I frequently said friendly things to the folks as I went by.

I found myself drawing hard on my water. And I actually needed a refill at the first stop. That was my first moving bottle exchange, a curious experience, I must say. After filling my aero bottle, I used the rest to try to clean the blood off my hand. I just made a big mess. Fortunately, tri shorts are black and wont show all the blood that I wiped on them. But despite getting off a lot of blood, my hand just got bloody all over again quickly.

There was one guy I leapfrogged almost the whole ride. This guy had about the worst bike form I've ever seen. His upper body was moving constantly, swaying back and forth as he slowly ground the pedals. But it obviously worked for him.

I moderated my effort until we turned north on 414. I made the strategic decision to push this section. While my average pace was around 19 mph from mile 6 to 17, it was almost 24 mph from 18 to 28. I burned a couple of matches here, no doubt. I was fatigued toward the end of this section and was very glad to hit the turn towards Cayuga and some downhills.

I got in some nutrition on this section and tried to recover. I averaged about 20 mph while on 89. Then the one good hill. Mile 34 to 38 saw me average only about 17 mph. This had a lot of questionable pavement.

We entered Ovid and were back on 96A. Some good downhills back towards Seneca Lake. I averaged close to 25 mph for miles 40 to 42. Miles 43 to 46 were Sampson State Park. This was the un-maintained road section. I actually averaged almost 19 mph through here, though my power was about 180. I took my last gel, early in the park.

Out of the park and onto East Lake Road. The best pavement on the whole course. Time to give it all I had left. A couple of weeks ago, I was able to push about 250 watts through here, and averaged about 25 mph. But today, I had already burned a lot of matches. I was struggling at this point and had to grit it out.

From mile 47 to the finish, I did average about 24 mph. My HR went from about 120 to about 140. It was all I could do. I was trying to push more, but my legs were done. I crested the hill at go back onto 96A and shouted to myself, "COME ON!" "LET'S GO!!!!" It was a level of effort and intensity that I can't always muster. I was able to hold on til the finish.

Once back in the park, I pushed until the end. I was so thankful I didnt have to go run 13 miles.

I executed my plan well. I may have pushed a touch hard in the times that I wasnt planning on pushing, but it worked out well for this race. I was definitely going too hard if I expected to run afterwards. But for today, it worked great.

I had hoped to break 3 hours on this ride. I crushed that time and averaged over 20 mph. I really didnt think I was capable of maintaining that pace over this distance. Sometimes we surprise ourselves.

I saunted to my spot in transition. I got my bike racked and just looked around, not exactly knowing what to do. A woman came over and took my timing chip. I was spent. I should get some food and drink.

But first, my hand. It finally stopped bleeding about halfway through the ride. But my whole hand was covered in blood. I walked over to the medical tent. They cleaned it up as best they could. Used a ton of water to clear it out. They were of the opinion that I needed stitches. They could not do that there, so I'd have to go to the ER or another doc. They bandaged it up and sent me on my way.

Walking around in search of food, I saw Dudley heading out for his run. He looked good!

I finally found the food. I chowed down on a bunch of fruit. Some good drinks too. I wanted something with protein, but I didnt find anything. Oh well.

I had planned on staying around til folks I know finished the half. But my finger was throbing and I needed to see a doc about some possible stitches. So back to transition where I sas Jackjack, who was volunteering.

I gathered my stuff and hit the urgent care center near home. They offered me the stitches but said I could get by without. They did re-clean the wound and re-bandaged it. I'm on antibiotics as a precaution. Get to check on my tetanus status tomorrow too. No swimming for a week.


I was very happy with my race. It went well. I executed my plan. I felt fresh and my legs responded. I exceeded my expectations. Perhaps next year I'll do the whole thing.


This is perhaps the best run race that I know. Just outstanding the organization and professionalism.