ChesapeakeMan AquaVelo - Aquabike

Super windy, super choppy, tough swim. I think all the times were down. Only one person broke an hour I think for the entire field (a bit over 300 with the full irondistance people, the aqua velo and the swim only group.

I had what I thought was a decent swim at least through the first 2/3rds, then I started getting whoozy and stomach issues from constantly rocking up and down. Sighting is still an issue and I weaved more than I would like. I ended up breast stroking most towards the end because of gagging a few times. But I did the majority of it freestyle even with the serious conditions. Considering how disastrous my last swim was in the Choptank when it was rough, 100th place out of the guys out of about 152 male swimmers wasn't bad.

Work on navigating the waves a bit better. Try to not drink the entire Choptank and get a stomach ache and gag/hurl a few times. I actually think I handled the swim pretty well overall even though it was slow. Knowing that this is my major weakness I think I did alright and didn't let things get out of control or overwhelm me.

We had a changing tent, which was a first for me. Someone helped unzip my suit which was nice since we didn't actually have strippers here (meaning wetsuit strippers of course ..... sick minded people ...). Got my bike gear bag, found a spot in the tent and got changed pretty quickly. Put my shoes on there since it was a relatively small transition and it would be a long day in the saddle. No gloves, no socks (they would have been soaked anyways since the pavement was puddled in the tent). Took a Gatorade swig and took off.

Not much, this one went pretty smoothly and I was really in no hurry. This was a training race afterall. I just wanted to make sure I had everything I needed set right.

Bike was really windy, but I just tucked in and went. First 56 I was in the 2:28 range and throughout the whole thing I was never passed - at least on the ride portion. You see ....... because I suck in the water I was not up with the rest of the faster guys/gals and as I started my second lap I passed a few more people (they were in special needs and I didn't use that today). After that I didn't see another person for over a 1/2 hour ........ not a single rider. Finally caught someone and passed him. Then I passed someone who was still on their first loop (ouch!!), after that back to no man's land.

I pass this deputy helping to protect traffic and had seen on and off smoke from what looked like a fire. About 2 miles later I see 2 dudes with numbers riding the OTHER WAY and chatting. I'm like "wtf?" Then I catch another lapped guy and he said "They are saying we have to turn around." Huh??? So after about 3-1/2 miles or so from when we passed the deputy I see this bus stopped and the driver talking to the deputy at this station. He waves me around and says I have to go back and follow directions for the deputy back there. So I turn around and ride (back into a headwind) and ride the 3-1/2 back to the deputy. I'm starting to wonder how they will make up the mileage difference. Then I see the thing that totally pisses me off ........... the deputy is waving the people on the course to the road on the left .........

I just @&%#ing had to ride 7 miles more than everyone behind me!!!!!! I just lost close to 20 minutes!! Unreal ....... At that point I had an average on my computer of 22.7 mph and I just sat up and said that was it, I'm done. 20 minutes worth of people just passed me and at close to 100 miles into the ride it just isn't worth it on a training ride. So I small chainringed it and cruised on in the last 15 miles or so. Ended up that the detour shorted the course right around ...... 7 miles. So I did actually get to ride the whole distance (according to my computer - I got a magnet to work from Radio Shack on the disc). Ride time because of sitting up was in the 5:10 range. Not what I wanted, but I was on pace to be under 5 if the stupid huge brush-fire hadn't started!

The swim/bike fasties (Joel included in that) had to ride THROUGH the fire zone and people were saying it was about 100 meters of thick smoke where they couldn't see anything at all and breathing was hot smoke in the lungs. Super dangerous, lucky no one got hurt!

The redeeming thing is that even after riding the extra mileage I still won my AG and I did the ride 20 minutes faster than the next person in the AG who DIDN'T have to ride as far as me ..... ;-P (Not counting the overall aquavelo winner who was in my AG, did the full 112 also and beat me by 15 minutes on the bike - closer to what I would have been if I hadn't cruised in).

Drink more. I started out well with about two bottles an hour, but that really faded out at the end. total was only about 8 - 20 oz. bottles and should be more in the 10 - 12 range. I also really need to incorporate solid food. My legs weren't super wiped at the end, but my energy level was wayyyyyyy low. Not a great thing when I'll have a marathon to run afterwards in a month!

Got a massage, ate some food, chatted with Joel and some of the other competitors and packed up the stuff to go home.


My swim definitely. If I had come out of the water even remotely close to the front group I would have been the same pace or faster than most of them and may have moved up more. Oh well, shoulda coulda woulda, didn't.


Great race with this being the 4th Columbia Tri. Assoc. event I will have participated in. This was much more low key and relaxed compared to all the others, but just as well run and organized and supported. I think it gave me some good insight into what I can expect at Florida and really did instill some confidence in being able to swim the distance considering how tought this swim was!