New Balance Cultus Lake Triathlon - TriathlonSprint

The entire sprint group started together and within 100 meters we had to squeeze between two moored boats that were about 15 meters apart. I decided to start front and center and sprint to that point to avoid the bottle neck effect at the boats then settle into my stroke.
This paid off as I came through unscathed.
Latter discovered the swim length was ~1000m

Nuttin.

It was ~150m to transition which took up most of T time.
I find I am faster putting shoes on in transition rather than mounting them to the bike. Seemed I was also faster than a couple others as I passed 3 riders right out of transition as they struggled to get their feet into shoes.

Nuttin.

I decided to use the road bike for this race as it has the power tap on it and I wanted to see what kind of watts I produce in a race. The down side to this is that the tri bike is the one with all the aero race get up. The road bike just has basic box rims and clip on aero bars.
About 1k after bike start I was passed by two guys and although I was cycling well I kept waiting for more to pass which never happened.
As we approached the turn around I started counting and was really surprised to find myself in 9th spot. Coming back from turnaround I estimated the next rider behind me was ~500m
Everything was going great till about 1.5k to go when I ride through a bunch of glass on the road. Hoping like hell I'd be fine wasn't enough as within 1k to go the tire was flat and I don't carry spares for a sprint distance. So I decided to ride it in on the rim and pray that the rim will survive.
Unfortunately 2 guys caught me just as we entered transition.
Fortunately I was faster than them in transition.
Wattage average was 193

Avoid glass.

I was surprised to see I had the fastest T2 time. :)

Nuttin.

Half of the run was along the beach with loose sand or gravel. Didn't care for it much as it made for poor traction.
The run course was poorly marked and at times I had no idea if I was even on the right course or not as I could see the runner in front or behind.
Turns out I was off course and ran way to much on the beach.
Coming back was easier as I could navigate by the runners coming my way.

Pre walk and understand the run course.

Wait for friends racing to finish. Shoot bull stories after, attend award ceremonies, then drive 4 hrs. back home.


Glass in tire, sand on beach.


Sara and joe Dixon of Outback Events always put on a great race. Love attending their functions.