Bintan Triathlon : Who is racing?

Giving it a miss this year. It's just really horrible timing, with two weeks to go in our school year, and my progress reports are due on that Monday. The transport logistics are also difficult at best, and it's uncomfortably close to my HIM in June.

As for the hill--I didn't start with my shoes attached to my bike. I have two-sided pedals that I can ride either clipped in or not. (It's a survival tactic for the roads here. I clip in when I hit a more traffic-free areas.) So I started on the flat side and clipped in after the initial climb. Riding with your feet on top of your shoes sounds hazardous. I'd make sure before putting the bike into transition that you're in an easy enough gear (check by climbing the hill). Then just clip in and ride up, standing if needed. The hill's steep, but it's quite short.

Be aware of the finish situation--short, steep downhill, 180 degree turn, back up same hill, down the same short, steep, hill as you went up at the start. I unclipped as I headed downhill, and rode the brakes. Saw a few people wipe out heading in after the bike.

Good luck on the weekend. Hope you hit your goal time. Last year I left the shoes on the bike and pedaled up the hill with my feet on top. As Karen mentions it's only a short climb and when I got to the top I put my feet in the shoes. It also makes it easy to get your feet down if someone spills in front of you.

I wouldn't recommend trying to clip in at the start as it is straight away uphill. Saw a lot of people fall trying to do that.

Let me know if you are stopping in SIngapore at all and we can catch up for a drink.

What are you hoping for with your splits?

Thanks, Andrew.  I'm sorry we missed each other in Singapore.  We had an early flight on Thursday, so Wednesday evening was spent packing and preparing for the flight.

Bintan was a great experience, and I learned a lot.  One funny part was that the organizers, at the last minute it seemed, turned Friday's swim TT into a competition.  My coach told me to go easy on this TT, but my easy pace and hard pace are sadly very similar.  I ended up finishing the TT in 0:33:45, just missing my 0:33 race goal, but that was good enough for a silver medal!  (The guy who won the gold finished in 0:24:33, so I missed first place by a mere 9 minutes.)  Between missing my mark on Friday and the choppy/crowded conditions on Saturday, I though there was no way I would make my swim goal during the race.  But sure enough, I beat my goal time by 28 seconds.  Thank you floating lines and thank you drafting!

I am indeed focused on my next race(s).  Well, I'm actually taking a transition week now (i.e., a week off) and will get back into it starting Monday.  I move back to the U.S. next month and will race the Nations Tri in Washington, DC in September and then a half-iron race in North Carolina (Beach2Battleship) at the end of October.  2013 will be my Ironman season!

Let me know if your travels take you to the U.S. in the near future.  I sure will miss the SE Asia racing scene.