Columbia Triathlon - TriathlonOlympic

From my perspective I think Richard had a superb swim as he came out of the water 3rd for all the relayers. Not bad for a 53 year old guy!! ;)

Waved my hand when I saw Richard come through the arch from the swim and since we were all the way in the back next to the bike exit he had to run up to me

I was already fully dressed and ready with everything on and as soon as he got to me I took off the chip band, pit it on and took off.

Maybe meet him at the middle of the transition area so he wouldn't have to run to the back? But that would then mean I'd still have to run out of the transition with my shoes on to get out of the bike out area. Probably nothing really ..... it went well I believe. And our T1 time was solid.

This is my course ...... I ride it almost every week, I know every climb, turn, bump, descent and road surface. I know where I can push it and where to just hold it back enough to get the most speed out of a section. I was on autopilot when it came to where I was going and could just concentrate on going as fast as possible to build on Rich's swim time.

I caught the two people who went out ahead of me from the relay within the first 5 miles of the ride. One within the first mile! The other a bit further along (his swimmer is legendary in the area and is still only a teenager .... the kid has a bright future!!) I flew on 108 until the turn down Homewood and worked the downhill there going around 40. I was concerned about the fact that almost 2,000 people were ahead of me, but there were only minor sections where I got caught up in traffic and only had to slow down a few times to avoid crossing the yellow line or running into people.

I love the middle section of the course from when you pass the roundabout and head to he back side. This is the place on the Tuesday night rides where I just fly and this race was no exception. I worked every hill out of the saddle and kept my gearing just where it should be. As soon as I'd crest a hill it was right back into the aero position to get back up to speed.

I only had two sketchy areas. One was at the bottom of Triadelphia before making the turn to go up the big hill where a guy had wiped out badly and there was an ambulance and policeman slowing things down. I was descending at about 40, it had just started to lightly sprinkle and there were a few riders ahead in my way. I had to slow down to less than 20 to get by there and commented to the lady I passed how much it sucked for the guy. He was on a stretcher and had a neck brace and his face was completely road rashed. :(

The second one came on the main return up Homewood where there was a car in the road going the pace of the riders around. Of course I was 5 - 10 mph faster than that and after getting just by the car I had to go off of the road and into the gutter and grass briefly to get by a lady who also had just passed the car. A bit freaky, but got through clean and kept pushing.

When I turned back onto 108 I just got on the rivet and pushed as hard as I could!! Snot was flying, I was spitting a bit and just frickin' hammered! At some point I passed CJ (Dlaxman31) and heard him call out but I was just in a zone and flying.

Turned into the park - but gingerly since the roads were slick - and dismounted cleanly to get back into transition.

Cut it loose just a little bit more on the hills, try to avoid cars and other cyclist and not back off the speed. Ummmm, train more on the bike!!!!

Without the accident I passed and the slick roads towards the end I could have gone about a minute faster. My bike split was the 23rd fastest out of the ENTIRE field including pros, and I went off in slightly windier and wetter conditions than the rest of the fast guys did. but obviously I didn't have to run afterward so I had the advantage of being able to go almost all out. But honestly, I ride every ride in a triathlon full tilt so I don't think it would have been much different in a stand alone tri. ;)

Went along the inside part of the racks and fence to save some time. I yelled to Nathan that I was coming and I was the first relayer back into transition. He got the timing band off, put it on and I encouraged him to go!

Great transition. Some of the other relayers later were smart in that they met just after coming into the transition and not at the bike rack like I did. That could have cut out :30 or so easily. Next time I do a relay I'll remember that!

I did not know at all what sort of runner Nathan would be, so I tried to build on the lead that Richard had given me and give Nathan every opportunity to stay in front as long as he could. I knew that there were some of the fastest local mid-distance runners (we're talking stand alone 30 - 32 minute flat course 10k'ers here) doing the relay for other teams so knew we'd need as much cushion as possible to stay in the hunt.

I think he did great and saw him coming in the last few hundred meters.

After the bike I sat down for waiting to see where we stood with the other cyclists. The second fastest cyclist came in just a minute or two after me but he was with a co-ed group as well as the one after a few minutes later. I then threw on my shoes and decided to go for a short easy brick recovery and did 2 miles around the lake and caught up and ran with CJ (Dlaxman31) for a little bit encouraging him.


Barely 300 miles on the bike for the season??? And less than 400 total since IMFL in November???


Great race, great result and great times! I knew the course like the back of my hand, knew every turn, every hill, what gears I could push wear and every downhill I could make up time. This sort of ride is suited to me and let's me play on my strengths very well. I felt awesome at the end and even though I probably could have pushed it a little tiny bit more I would not have gained much overall.

And we got hardware to boot! 3rd place men's relay!! Considering the disparity in our runner's time to the guys who got 1st and 2nd, we did awesome all around as a group and showed that it takes a good solid team effort to place well and not just one fast person. I think I like this relay stuff! ;)