Duathlon Chambly - DuathlonStandard

So we lined up at the starting line. The stupid award of the day went to the guy that was wearing only a Team Canada tri suit and compression socks (not even arm warmers!). He was 2 minutes ahead of everybody at the end of the first run, then froze his arse on the bike and did not make it to T2. To put thing in perspective, I was wearing a tri-top, arm warmers, a thin long sleeve shirt and a thick bike jacket on top... and I did not feel hot at any time!

Pretty uneventful run for me. The legs were a little sluggish at the start because of the lack of warm up but other than that I was feeling pretty good and was succesful at not sliding in the mudholes scattered on the course.

Warm-up more.

Since the transition zone was a swamp, I decided I would put my bike shoes on and remove them at the rack. I had never done that, but the weather won this one. I had some trouble attaching the helmet and clipping in the pedals so that cost me a few clicks on the clock.

Not much more I could have done, the day just sent me some hazards.

The bike was pretty brutal. Gusting wind, rain, tight/slippery corners. The course was an out & back. The pavement was awesome on the way out and the way back shook the hell out of us. Worst. pavement. ever.

It probably took me a lap and half to find my groove and get rid of the Trek guy that was blocking me but wasn't slow enough for me to have a definite pass. Then I got into my groove, tried to find the best line to avoid bumps on the way back and tried to stay conservative in corners. It was my first time using the tires I had in wet condition so I didn't want to screw things up by being too agressive. By the fifth lap, my hand were in Antarctica and would stay there for a couple more hours after the race. The wind was downright brutal on the last 300m or so heading to the transition zone.

I don't know. I know I can do better than that but I feel that I handled things fairly well given all the unusual "elements".

I really had a hard time unclipping the helmet and sliding in the shoes properly. I didn't even try to tighten the Yankz, it was just useless to do so as I wasn't feeling my fingers.

I did the best I could with the little mobility my hands had.

The legs didn't feel like a ton of brick when I got out of T2 so that was a good surprise. After 3-400m I stopped a few seconds to try to tighten the Yanks because my shoes were moving too much. I probably tried 5 seconds before quitting on the project and restarting to run. Every lap my calves were cramping a bit more while going up the little (very little) hill. Getting to the finish line was a relief. I think I gained one position on the second run. That second run was a good effort and I'm happy about it but I think there was a little bit of gas left in the tank.

Push harder.

I changed into dry, warm clothes. Lol Stretched a bit before getting my medal having finished 2nd out of 10 in my AG. That kind of result surprises me a bit.


The list could be pretty long, I'll pass :)


Well organized, nice t-shirt and lunch. My only complaint is on the pavement quality on the bike.