'Self seeded' lanes roughly according to time; of the 4 of us, myself and another guy decided we were both fast 7/slow 7 depending, the other two weren't completely sure. So we start with the 7's then the others, and sure enough lapped them 2/3 through, then #2 passed me with 2 laps to go, not sure why at that point. This and skipping 1/2 my flip turns made for a little slower time, but #4 out of the water isn't bad.

Suck it up and do the flip turns, also need to work hypoxic drills back into my swims...neither workout resource includes that in their content, and I can feel how its made me lazy on my breathing.
Also haven't pool swum with the tri top before, but can't say I noticed the difference.

Overall this went well...sort of. Dropped the cap outside the pool door, up the hill on cold grass, reached the rack and wiped the water from hair and face before helmet and goggles went on, the went to the shoes. Hadn't practiced putting the new shooz on fast, and so of course they didn't go on that way; I give futzing with footgear and extra 20 seconds.

practice how to do the shoes faster. All else was good.

Out the lot, down Foothills Canyon, onto Town Center looking at a blood red sun through thin clouds. Have I mentioned yet its 52 degrees? I did mention opting not to wear socks, and that made things chilly for the wet feet. Climbed TC, climbed Lucent, climbed B'Way, so far so good, just a handful of bikes in front of me and no one visible behind, this is good...onto Wildcat Reserve, bear down on the big ring, trying to get speed up, I don't feel as fast as I should...check my speed, barely 30 on a 35-40 grade, look down at the rear wheel the same time I feel the psi reach about 20 there...whats another word for OH, CRAP! ? There goes the race.
But wait, you brought a small kit with you, so all is not lost. However, changing a tire on the roadside and doing it when you're in a BIG HURRY are two very different things, as I'm about to discover.
1. Wheel off, bike on grass, wheel in hand
2. Back to bike, unzip kit bag and pull tire irons which are on top, good
3. Start to remove tire bead, remember valve ring, take that off, then back to remove tire bead; rip tube out, fling away in anger
4. Back to bike, dig tube out from bottom of kit bag; remove valve ring and remember to not lose it
5. valve in rim, tube in tire, tube in tire, tube in tire; locate green tire irons scattered on green grass, tire bead finally reseated
6. Pull CO2 charger, ready to inflate tire, notice charger needs be reversed to work; get CO2 straightened, start filling tire.
7. Tire not filling, why not? Lock on charger still locked, unlock it, start filling tire.
8. Tire half full and stops, why? Too fast with the CO2 and valve seems frozen, roll between fingers to unfreeze, finish filling tire.
9. Wheel back on in alignment always a slight challenge, close counts today
10. re-gather tire irons, CO2 charger, mental check to come back for trash after race, back on the road.
I figure those 10 steps are good for about 6 minutes of bike time, not to mention the lost momentum of otherwise ripping fast all the way back down to Town Center for lap 2. Also I am now probably rolling on 80-100 psi, which might be good for a cross trail but not here and not now. Oh. Well.

I would practice seeing how fast I can change a tire while wet and cold. But I just did that in this event, so check.

Wiped my feet on the folded towel, helmet off, hat on, and wrestled with the damp cold feet into the sock-less shoes. Took five steps and then went back for a big drink off my transition bottle, which I had forgotten to do while I was standing there doing the other stuff.

bottle was kind of tucked behind the foot of the rack, put it in a more visible/reachable spot?
Find a shoehorn and add it to the transition kit?

Out onto the trail and the feet feel oh so stiff. That thing about wet sock-less feet on the bike at 52 degrees? Makes them feel like blocks, fortunately mile 1+ of this course is a mild downslope and eventually they seemed to warm up ok.
Best 5k run ever at the end of a race, and done sock-less in the Nike Free runs. This is a very good thing and a big hurdle to clear.

Nothing really. All good here

walked the lot, had a couple of gatorade cups, had the back wheel checked at the BS tent; then packed up and headed home and then to the kids' swim meet.


Flat tire.