San Dimas, California United States TriEvents.com 70F / 21C Overcast

Total Time = 2h 28m 43s Overall Rank = 82/158 Age Group = 40-44 Age Group Rank = 15/20

Rather than posting the specifics, here's my race report:

Quite a day for me! My goal time was 2:30, which somehow I still managed to beat despite flatting (my first flat in a race) around mile 6 of the bike. If only Trisports.com wasn't sold out of the tires I ordered....
In the first lap, in the first downhill, I nailed a few of those bumps at the bottom of the hill and was worried about a pinch flat (which I believe it was...I saved the tube and inflated it when I got home, and the blowout was on one of the seams in the tube on the side).
Then, on the second dowhill (the long, fast one), I'm zooming along at 30 plus mph and I hear a sudden hiss from my back tire! My worst nightmare!!! Blowout doing 30mph is something I've had nightmares about!!! Fortunately, the tire had just enough air in it for me to slow and stop safely. I quickly jumped up on the dirt on the side and started working on the tire. I was a bit flustered as I've never had a flat during a race, but I've been doing a bit of flat changing in the past week, and had done it twice yesterday (long story), so I knew just what to do, but it was still messy with all the gravel and dirt around.
Anyway, I was doing pretty well in the race up until that point, and that took me probably 12 minutes to change I'd say. I quickly jumped back on and started hammering to make up time. Came into T2 at about 1:50 and knew I had a shot at beating my goal time. So, there I am running along, picking up the pace after the halfway mark, and I cross the first part of the dam approaching the second part, picking off runners one by one. As I pass this woman and man, the two runners ahead of me veer off into a trail into the woods. There are no markers, and the people behind me are telling me to not go into the woods, but I'm not sure, so I go behind the couple heading into the woods and see arrows painted on the dirt and figure I'm going the right way.
I'm on this rocky dirt path switchbacking down toward a creek, thinking I've blown it. Once down to the creek, it switchbacks up the other side back to the dam. I come out 100 yards behind the people I had passed on the first dam...DAMNIT! (NO PUN INTENDED). So, I probably lost 2 minutes with that little detour, but STILL crossed in about 2:28. Calculating the flat and detour into my time, i figured I lost 4 places in my AG. Oh well...a great learning experience, and a fun story to tell.