Swim start was a lot more congested then the swim at Keuka. Took me a while to get some space. The first length was against the waves and current. Seemed to take a long time to get out to the turn. Swallowed some water once and had to stop to cough it out. Probably the only real problem I had on the swim was swimming straight. I swam into the bouys a couple of times. After the turn, the swim was a lot easier. No waves in the face and with the waves and current. Never really felt tired during the swim. At the sprint turnaround, I noticed that I was swimming near wsolt. He and I swam next to each other for the rest of the race.

Need to get better at swimming straight. If I could breath better on my right side, I could have been looking at the bouys the whole time which would have helped me to swim straighter.

Was a long run from the water to transition but nice to have a the cheering crowds along the way. Pulled wetsuit off my top while running and took off swimcap and goggles. My wife followed me to transition and was talking to me a bit. Felt relaxed and calm. Put socks and shoes on then put race belt on, glasses on and helmet on. Ran out of transition with bike and got on bike at mount line.

Not too much. I think I just need to practice a little more to get faster. The last time I did T1 was at the Keuka tri...no practice since then.

Good ride. Took about 15 seconds too long getting my first shoe clipped into the pedal but once I got it in, the other went in fast. Started off with foggy sunglasses. About the time that the glasses cleared, around mile 5, it started to rain. Rained constantly for the remainder of the race. I didn't have the straw for the Never Reach set up properly so I spent a lot of time fiddling with it during the beginning of the race. Almost ran off the road once. Once I got it set up, sipped constantly on it during the race and drank about 12 ounces of orange Gatorade from my water bottle. Felt good the whole time. Although the first climb was rough, it was not too bad. Got passed by plenty of folks and did some passing myself during the ride. Road conditions were pretty good. There were lots of nice folks that were sitting outside their houses cheering on the riders, super nice considering it was raining. Passed a guy who was bent over his bike which was down on the ground. Slowed down to see if he was OK - he had a broken chain. Nothing I could do to help that and he wasn't hurt so I carried on. Bike computer died around mile 15 probably from the rain so I had nothing to gage speed or distance. There were distance markers on the road which helped. Around mile 23 twinracer passed me and I yelled to him that it was about time he passed me. He later reminded me that I had a 20 minute head start on him!! Finished the ride on the nice down hill at 30+ mph and cruised into transition.

Overall this ride felt really good. I was glad to have done the practice ride on the route in July to be familiar with the ride. I think I just need more ride time to get my pace up a bit. Hills continue to be my weakness...just need to ride more hills! Should have set the Never Reach straw before getting to transition (had it off the bike for the ride up) to minimize the fiddling at the beginning of the ride.

Was a little slower than I expected but again did some talking with my wife as I was going. Sneakers were dry since I had them in a plastic bag but socks were soaked. Went with it anyway since I knew my shoes would be soaked shortly too. Left the sunglasses behind...they were hard to see out of and with a shady run, they would have been worthless.

Again, need practice here. I know I can do better than that. Wet conditions didn't help.

Legs felt tired and heavy from the start. Just couldn't get them going. Aerobically, I felt pretty good, just couldn't get the legs moving faster. Passed plenty of people and got passed by several. Not sure of my split because I wasn't too good at hitting the lap button on my watch during the whole race. Not crazy about a 2 loop course but it was nice seeing my wife and friends at the turn. Got to see my wife starting her 10K as I wsa finishing my second lap.

I think that I needed some more long distance runs. My longest run in the 2 months before the race was 8 miles. Need to go longer more often and get used to running with tired legs. This was the only part of the race where I wasn't too happy with my performance.

Ate some of the food available and drank some water and Gatorade. Waited at the turn to cheer on my wife and then watched wsolt finish. Hung out with friends and then moved to the finish to see my wife. Saw Dexter come in and said hello. Hung out for the awards ceremony. Saw twinracer pick up his first place medal and then watched my wife's relay team get their 2nd place award.


I felt good everywhere except the run. I think I need to log some longer runs in preparing for this distance. Swim and bike are coming along and feel like I will make progress there over time.


Very well run race. Considering the weather and a lot of people showing up late, everything still got started on time. Transition area was well run. Give aways were nice (long sleeve tech tee and a pint glass). Course was in good condition for what was within their control. Great work by the race crew, volunteers and law enforcement! Recommend this race to anyone who wants a challenging bike.