The gun sounded, and the mass chaos started. Not bad actually, since I think I did a good job of positioning myself. Nonetheless, after the gun sounded I hit it hard for about 100 meters just sighting off the other people. A bit of contact, but no big deal. I am not sure what I am doing differently this year, but I am swimming straight for once. I was dead on the buoy, rounding it very close (e.g. I could touch it if I wanted). Passed the first buoy, and started towards the second. About half way to the second buoy, I turned to breath and got a mouthful of water. It must of hit me just at the right time, since I could not catch my breath. I quickly changed up strokes to BS, and took several gasping attempts to get air. After about two BS strokes, I regained my breath and returned to FS.

The rest of the swim was uneventful, and I continued to work on sighting, navigation, my drafting off the hip, etc. Personally, I would say my drafting off the hip is coming along well. I only got in a bad position once, where I was high on the guy and he kept hitting my with this hand as he pulled for the next stroke. He was much faster so it was not long before he inched ahead, and I locked on to his hip.

Other than that, I just found a nice rhythm and worked my way to the swim finish. I ended up at 1:55/100 meters and that includes the run up the boat ramp and to the mat. So, I would guess I was actually swimming closer to 1:45/100 which is strong for me in open water.

Nothing, I felt like I had a solid swim, great navigation, etc.

As I exited the water I removed my cap/goggles and pulled out my ear plug. That took a second since I had it shoved in there, but no worries, since I did so while running up the boat ramp.

Lucky for me I was seven racks in from the swim, and seven racks in from the bike, so I really did not have to over thing how many racks to count.

Worked my way to the seventh rack and tranisitioned. I would say this was my normal speed, plus the time it took to run to my rack and then out the other side. All-in-all, probably a sub 30 second T1 plus enter/exit time.

Nothing

I exited the water in 75th position, and quickly moved up after a fast T1. Crossed the mount line, mounted, and quickly got my feet in the shoes. I knew I did not have long since about 100 meters from the mount line you climb .25 of a mile up out of the Marina. I was passing lot of people up that hill, and then strapped my shoes down after topping the hill. From there I started to find a rhythm as I made my way to the turn around. More-or-less, I was passing lots of people at first, and then settled into my spot. I was still reeling in people on the descents and flats, but everyone was getting more spread out as the miles clicked off.

A guy with a 44 on his calf came up, and he and I were about the same biking power. So, we played leap frog for a while. He was a bit faster on any flat section, and it was a push up hills, but I ran up on him on any decent. I noted that caused a spacing issue a few times. Of course, anytime that I ran up behind him I would move over to his side as not to gain any advantage. Nonetheless, right before the turn I was making a pass and he did not want me to, so he mashed on the pedals. I remember thinking it was taking a bit long to make the pass, but I did, push forward, and then moved back to the right. Nothing big, but then I saw the official taking notes to my right. I thought about it for a second, but then chalked it up to the other guy getting a position penalty for not dropping out of the draft zone, and pushed on.

Make my turn, and started back to T2. This 44 would not go away. He continued to nip at my heels, and more leap frog. Well, that is until the final 3+ miles. I made a pass while climbing and just continued to push. He was never seen again after that, but unbeknown to me the damage was already done.

I caught two guys right before you make a 180 turn back down the hill towards transition. The final .25 of a mile was a no passing zone, so I hung tight, and we positioned for dismount.

Feet out on top of shoes, and then dismounted.

I want more biking power, so I can punish all that are around. How to do so, bike more.

Still, I was pleased with the effort and ended up pulling a 21.07 mph avg on a very hilly course. I was thinking I would be closer to 20, so I will take the extra 1 mph.

Flying dismount, and counted my seven rack back to my spot. Racked bike, helmet off, and threw on my Zoots. Grabbed my race number in hand, and out the back of tranisition.

Nothing

Again, another 30 second tranisition, plus time to run in and out of T2.

Exited the rear of transition, and started towards that climb out of the Marina. I passed several people during the climb and then found myself in no-man's land. After the first .25 mile climb you had a full one mile downhill. I went as fast as I could, but I just can not go down hill that fast, since having my ACL replaced it just does not like downhills. I had only one guy in my sights, and then I noted he was on a relay. Soooooo, all he had to do was run. I thought to myself, I have to gun this guy down on principle. I was closing the gap, but very slowly on the down hill. Well, as soon as it flatten out, I passed and dropped him.

After the one mile downhill the course climbs at various degrees continuous to the finish. Running non-stop hills sucks, but it definitely plays into my strength. I found myself alone with only one guy ahead of me that I could see. He was a very strong runner, so I kept him in range. I normal do not grab water during runs, but after climbing for a solid mile I decided to grab a quick drink.

It was pretty uneventful until I got into downtown. The final quarter mile or so was through the downtown streets, which was really cool. The only problem was I kept hearing someone behind me, so I dropped the hammer to the finish. It was not until after the race that I got to talking to Derek and he pointed out to me that the noise I was hearing was from the guy in front of me; however, the noise was bouncing off the buildings so it sounded like it was coming from behind. Oh, the crazy pills you take during a race.


Nothing really, it was a solid effor for the course.

No real cool-down. I grabbed a few bottles of water, and talked to Steph family that showed up to watch the race. It was at that point that I learned that Scott had blow out his tire at the bike turn around, and she had gone to pick him up. She ended up dropping him back at transition, and he was going to do the run even after being DQ'ed. Good for him, and I would have done the same.

Nonetheless, I went to the finish line and cheered on the other racers, Derek, and Scott, and then we all just goofed off until the results were posted. I had taken 2nd in my AG, and Derek had earned his first podium in Clydes!!!! Woo-Hoo, he was super excited and I was equally excited for him. It was a long hard fight to earn his first podium, but it finally came together for him.

Well, I was not long before the penalties were posted, and I went to see if I could tell if the guy next to me received a penalty for not dropping back. I could not tell if he received one, but F-ME, I did. I received a 2:00 time penalty for "drafting". WTF, so I went to talk to the USAT Official about it. He read me his notes "You entered the passing zone, and completed your pass with in 34 seconds. The allotted time frame is 30 seconds. 34 seconds is not 30 seconds, so I gave the penalty. " I thought about if for a second, and decided to take it like a man. No discussion, no arguing, as I knew it would not be overturned, but I was still freaking pissed about it. To be honest, it made me feel like a cheater even though I had gained no advantage to my position (e.g. being directly to his side vs behind him). I guess it is a matter of time before you get a drafting penalty when you are racing someone of equal biking speed, and you play leap frog for the majority of the course.

Final Notes:
- I actually finished in 1:25:24, and then the 2:00 time penalty put me at 1:27:24.
- The 2:00 penalty moved me from 15th OA to 24th OA
- The 2:00 penalty moved me from 2nd AG podium to 3rd AG podium


I just need to hammer more.


This was the inaugural race for Tri The Mountains, put on by GA Multisport. I swear you could not tell. The event was very organized, TONS of volunteers (which were freaking great the entire day), the volunteers were very knowledgeable and could direct racers and spectators. The shuttle that ran between transition and the finish line for spectators (e.g. point to point run) were right on time, etc., etc. This was a great race, and I will definitely be back to get revenge on this course and the USAT Official. :)

If you are looking for a solid challenge, organized event, and a class A race, put this one on your schedule for next year.