Urban Dirt Off-Road Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

Not a bad swim for me. I wasn't fast by any means (Lance swam a 10:24) but I felt good the whole time and my sighting was good too.

I did a better job getting my wetsuit off this time, however, the transition area was set up on a sand volleyball court, so after getting out of the wetsuit, I had to spray off my feet with a spare waterbottle and then get on my socks and shoes. This took an extra minute. My T1 rank was 72/137 overall.

Some people brought buckets to simply dip their feet into. This might be faster. I should also have spread out my entire gigantic towel. I'm sure people wouldn't have minded having more sand coverage.

I had no idea what to expect for time on this mountain bike course. I was riding my 26" steel frame Gary Fisher from 2001. It had been a really long time since I really rode it off road. I thought I might average 15 mph. Turns out, I was wrong...really wrong. First lap was brutal. I had some poor gearing choices on a few of the climbs and ended up having to walk it up the hill since the course was crowded and I couldn't find a good spot to get back on the bike. I was worried about lap 2 when I hit the canal portion that is nice and flat. Fortunately, the 2nd loop was much better. Gearing choices were better and I was able to ride up every hill. My mounts and dismounts were clean the whole time right up until the last time through the storm culvert. I unclipped on the right and swung my leg over my top bar. I dont' know if I never unclipped on the left or accidentially re-clipped, but when I went to step off the left pedal, it didnt' happen. I went down on my left shin and a few people behind me had to quickly go around. I got back up fast and ran throught the culvert on the way back to transition.

I'd love to have a 29er for starters, but the real problem was my lack of mountain bike riding. I was happy with my aggressiveness for having not done any off road riding though. I rode down the first big drop in where several people were walking down it. I should probably also get out of the saddle a few times and push it up the hills a bit harder. My time: 1:20:31. Lance's time: 46:02. I saw Lance 3 times out there on the course. First time was running through the storm culvert the first time, 2nd time he blew past me on a climb and finally, I saw him on the opposite side of the canal as he was finishing up his 2nd lap and I was still working on my 1st.

Not a bad transition overall. I wasted a few seconds talking to the lady next to me. she passed me on the bike course but when I came into T2, she was on her cell phone. I guess she broke her rear derailleur and had to DNF. 75/138

Maybe try to take my feet out of my shoes and leave them on the bike, but with all the sand, I didn't want to get my socks covered before I put my running shoes on.

I haven't done much trail running in addition to no mountain biking, so this was a little rough. I was always running and only slowed down to less than a jog on the technical descents through rocks. As I was on the way to the finish line a spectator told me to catch and pass the guy in front of me, so I turned it on a bit without looking like I was sprinting and passed him. Hit the slip and slide finish too. This was a fun and challenging course. Might have been nice to have some water of my own out there. Lance ran an 18:21, holding off local pro Lewis Elliot by over 4 minutes overall.

Get in some trail running experience!

Lack of off-road training and general physical conditioning.


A very fun race overall. This was a good reminder that a sprint can be pretty hard too.

Photos at:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2437779780277.2137680.1125...

Garmin Data at:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/120549363
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/120549355