General Discussion Race Reports! » Angels Race Rss Feed  
Moderators: k9car363, alicefoeller Reply

Angels Race - TriathlonSprint


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Lynchburg, Virginia
United States
Set-Up Inc.
60F / 16C
Sunny
Total Time = 00m
Overall Rank = 44/400
Age Group = Clyde
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

On wee tiny cat padded feet Spring snuck into central Virginia this weekend. ‘Twas all the better for racing. I did the packet pick up thing at my hotel on Sunday afternoon, and ran into a lady I know from other racing in the area. We chatted a bit and I went up to my room to get ready to pre-ride the course. I always try to pre-ride courses so that I know about any unexpected bad pavement, dogs, tricky hills, etc. My wife had to stay home and care for the new puppy we rescued last week, and she had expressed a good bit of trepidation about me riding on my own.
I got changed, and headed down to get my bike out of the car, and lo and behold, but who’s parked next to me in the garage and getting her bike ready, none other than my friend from earlier. So we pre-rode the course together. It is a good thing when you are many miles away from home and on your own to have another person to ride with.
I had a great dinner at Plaza de Alegre, a Mexican/Spanish/El Salvadoran place in a converted Blimpy a few blocks from the hotel (great Paella). Since it was time to change the clocks to daylight savings time, I decided to turn in early.

Event warmup:

Sunday morning I arrived at the transition area to find that it had gotten a little chilly overnight. I had packed all manner of clothes, including my Gore windstopper jacket (which I had on). I decided to count on the day getting a bit warmer and laid out a short-sleeeved jersey in T1. The transition area was tightly-packed. Moving about was very difficult, and space on the racks was at a premium. A girl who racked next to me arrived late with Specialized Stumpjumper Full-Suspension mountain bike (with knobbys) which had very wide handlebars. I helped her get enough space to actually rack the beast.
I milled about for a bit and got chipped and marked. About 35 minutes before my swim start time (this was to be a snake swim in a 25 yard pool) I got into the pool area and proceeded to warm up. The pool area was about 85 degrees and when I entered, my glasses fogged completely up. The Downtown Lynchburg “Y” has two pools, the race was held in the larger (and cooler) one. A couple of dozen of us warmed up in the 85-86 degree water of the small pool.

Swim
  • 00m
  • 328 yards
  • / 100 yards
Comments:

When Time came to get in line to swim. Nerves had actually gotten the better of me, and jumping into the water was a wee-bit of a shock, it was very much cooler than I expected. The man said ”5-4-3-2-1-GO!” Off I went.
The first 50 felt good, but I began to stress about the guy behind me. He had not tapped my feet yet, but I could feel him getting closer. My form began to suffer and I found myself breathing on every stroke. He did pass me at the 200 yard mark, however, I passed someone else at 225, so my relative place stayed the same.
Gettng out of the pool was an exercise in slippery terror. A smart fellow would have proceeded most cautiously. Not yours truly, though. I tried to pick up my pace through the pool area, and no sooner had a volunteer said “be careful, it’s slick” than I smashed my shin HARD into a metal support pole for the handrail. I still have a bloody 3-inch lump on my shin.

Transition 1
  • 00m
Comments:

T1 was a freaking disaster. I turned the corner from the chute into the TA and promptly turned down the wrong row of bikes. I had to scramble to get myself right (note to self: put the bright red bar tape back on the bike, it helps). Once I actually got to the bike, I managed to get my act together a bit better. I pulled out of the TA with my jersey bunched up above my gut (figuring that I would be better off adjusting it in motion). The exit from TA was a bit downhill, and the streets were closed off , so I got up to speed pretty quickly and got my jersey situated.
Bike
  • 00m
  • 15.53 miles
  • 0.00 mile/hr
Comments:

Leaving downtown proper, the course took a sharp 90 degree corner and plunged down to the James River. At the corner were several marshals. One poor lady was positively apoplectic about the speed at which we were approaching the corner. She was waving her arms above her head, stomping her foot and screaming (somewhat hoarsely) “Slow Down”, It’s steep. Slow Down” I did not see anyone slow down Bless her heart. She was going to have a long morning.
On this descent, I spotted the guy who had passed me in the swim. He had maybe 500-600 yards on me. He became my first target. Within the first 1.5 miles, I had reeled him in. Shortly after I caught him, a guy in white came around me at 28-30 mph (I was pretty well pinned at 25 or so) He was riding on a different planet from me, but that was the only bike that I saw recede into the distance all day. I estimate that I passed 20-25 bikes in the 15 mile course. I was feeling much better about my swim at this point.
I manager to pass one more person on the final climb back into town. This is a nasty steep 10-12% ascent back from the river on cooked legs, and I am nobody’s climber.

Transition 2
  • 00m
Comments:

T2 was a bit of a comedy of errors as well. I managed to get one foot free of the shoe as I approached the dismount line, but the other shoe decided to jump free of the pedal too. It went skittering across the tarmac, and I had to chase it down a couple of steps. In T2, I had trouble with my race belt buckle, and with the tongue of my shoe, so this was not the slick move I expected. Still I seemed to get away reasonably well, and thanks to the downhill start, the usual after-bike worms in my legs were a little less wiggly than usual
Run
  • 00m
  • 3.11 miles
  •  min/mile
Comments:

The run went very well, I managed to reel in 8-10 more people including (much to my evil delight) the first 12-year-old. I think I should be glad to catch him now, because in a couple of years, no-one will be close to him.
I slogged my way up the final hill before the finish line and went as hard as I could go to the line. There were a couple of blocks of the downtown streets that were completely blocked off for the race, and I really enjoyed running straight down the middle of the road without a car in sight. I heard them call my name and hit the line with all I had.

Post race
Warm down:

I walked around a bit, grabbed a very tasty CocaCola, and headed up to the TA to get my stuff together. As I was packing up, the girl on the Stumpjumper arrived, and I cheered her on a little. I loaded my stuff in the car, and went back to the finish line to see what results had been posted. I was quite pleased to find my name on the first page of the results.
I grabbed a bottle of Cytomax and headed down the road to my next race. (continued in Boones Mill)


Event comments:

I need to remember to actually remember my time from the early results posting.




Last updated: 2006-04-03 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:00:00 | 328 yards | / 100yards
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/400
Performance:
Suit:
Course:
Start type: Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current:
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 00:00
Performance:
Cap removal: Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
00:00:00 | 15.53 miles | 0.00 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/400
Performance:
Wind:
Course:
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 00:00
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
00:00:00 | 03.11 miles |  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/400
Performance:
Course:
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized?
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers?
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]

{postbutton}
2006-04-03 1:37 PM

User image

Champion
6786
50001000500100100252525
Two seat rocket plane
Subject: Angels Race
General Discussion-> Race Reports!
{postbutton}
General Discussion Race Reports! » Angels Race Rss Feed