Big Bear Triathlon Olympic Course - Triathlon

Entry/exit was funky with feet sinking deeply into lake silt. There were some lake weeds on much of the course, but they didn't bother me too much. Never caught a draft, had someone drafting on me most of the time, though. There were some strong swimmers in my AG.

T1 was pretty slow - I ranked 52/127. Since I take some time to wipe my feet down and put on socks, this doesn't help my T1 performance. Even with that, I should be able to get out faster than I did. My bike was racked in a primo spot, so no excuses. My T1 is always slow, and that is just a consequence of not practicing it.

Besides have a close call with getting buzzed on hwy 18 by one driver, the other main observation is that there are just a ton of turns once you come around the lake and are a few miles from the transition. I missed a turn at one point and went off course, up a hill. Then I had to go back and rejoin the course. That cost me a couple of minutes and a couple of spots in the overall standings. Also, that last stretch takes you through a residential area, and at one point I had someone backed out from a driveway maneuvering in a pickup or work truck and blocking the entire, narrow road. I had to stop and then holler at them politely to make room for me so I could get by. The course was a bit longer than your standard olympic distance by about 3.5 miles, and it had some fun climbing with the double ascent/descent jaunt out hwy 18.

Try not to miss any turns next time

Better than T1

Run only had some moderate elevation gain, less than my typical weekday run. The course was well-supported. This was probably the first time I was able to finish strong (for me, that is) on the run at any race. I heard someone say later they thought the course was only 5.5 miles per their Garmin, so I don't know how accurate the official course mileage from google maps is. Regardless, this was probably my best run performance at a triathlon to date, at least based on how I felt during the run.

Race pluses include: cheap entry, challenging bike course, neat venue, well-supported at least on the run. Negatives, the bike course had us in close quarters with traffic on some sections, and there were many turns in a residential area on the final few miles. All-in-all this was a fun race which I will probably consider doing again if they keep the entry fees down.