Raleigh, North Carolina United States World Triathlon Corporation 60F / 16C Sunny

Total Time = 5h 23m 53s Overall Rank = 366/2069 Age Group = M40-44 Age Group Rank = 66/289

Had a good run up to this event, but sabotaged myself the day before. Saturday morning I went to the gym and had a nice 700m swim in my wetsuit, did a nice transition to go do a 30-minute bike, and then came back and did a 2-mile run. Swim was good, on the bike I discovered a squeak in the bottom bracket (more on that later), and the run felt great, effortless, like a taper week run might feel if everything had come together.

Then I came home, had a bite to eat, and set to work on assessing the bottom bracket. And then all hell broke loose. I have the tools to do the job. Allen wrenches to take 2 bolts out of non drive side crank. Cap comes off non-drive side end of "axle". Drive side bearing cup comes right out, unscrewing clockwise. Nondrive side should unscrew counterclockwise. It didn't budge. I was using the proper Shimano spanner wrench, and nothing. And then it slipped on the teeth and began to strip them off. And it got worse. So of course I resorted to the channel locks, and made it even worse. And then I went inside and called my local bike shop, The Bicycle Chain. I explained my problem to Steve, and he said, over the phone "Never, ever touch your bike the day before a race." Jokingly, but I knew he was serious. He said bring it in, I'll see what I can do, no promises.

So I loaded the boys in the car, bike on the rack, and off we raced up the road to the shop. I walked in, he immediately took the bike to the rack, looked at it, looked at me, and said "You may be screwed." I got on the phone while he was assessing and lined up a 54cm Blue road bike (my friend Paul's road bike) just in case. Steve, the mechanic, got to a point where he said "Either it comes loose, or your frame cracks. He broke out a big socket, bolted it in place across the BB shell area, and used a pry bar 3 feet long. And it came loose.

I said, "what do you drink?" he said he didn't.
"What do you eat then??" he chuckled. I wanted to give him a hug.

He unloaded my bike, handed it to me, and I said "how much for your time?"
"5 bucks" he said. I said "let's make it $20" handed him my credit card, then handed him $10 cash and said lunch was on me.

He didn't have a replacement BB in the store, but called the other BC location on Glenwood and they had one. I set out with my boys and my bike in that direction, but had a hunch that InsideOut would have one, even if they didn't have a mechanic there to install it. Swung by there. As luck would have it, there was a mechanic in the store, even with bike check-in going on at the lake! From my arrival to my departure with a newly installed Dura Ace bottom bracket, 12 minutes elapsed.
I am floored with the response I received in "my" emergency. I will be writing letters of appreciation to both company owners.

Then, after all that, I had to get the bike prepped to take to the lake, as I was then leading a group of 11 Boy Scouts out there all afternoon volunteering. Oh, and driving the Church bus for the first time down 2-lane roads to get there.

Spent all afternoon at the lake, left there at 6:20 after being out in the sun and on my feet all day, drinking a bottle of water every hour but that wasn't even enough. I got home, and was completely wiped out. Was supposed to gather at smoom's house with louiskie and families, but was just cooked.

And then I got about 2 hours of sleep...

No warmup at all. "Woke" up (meaning got out of bed) at 3:20am. Showered. Bodyglided. Dressed. Cup of coffee. Made breakfast that I would eat on the bus to the lake. Started drinking Powerbar perform. Out the door at 4am, at Paul's house at 4:05, we were on our way to downtown Raleigh at 4:06.
Boarded the bus and were on our way. I think we got to the lake at maybe 5:25? On the bus, I read the facebook posting that it would be wetsuit legal, and patted my swim bag just to make sure I felt my wetsuit in there :)
Stepped off the bus to the most amazing bodymarkers. They were so energizing! Went to TA, pumped up my tires (had let air out Saturday afternoon to avoid pops), set up the area, went to make sure Paul, Louis, and Scott didn't need any air (took my pump), then exited TA with Louiskie. Hit the LOOOONNNNGGG portapotty line with louiskie, and we chatted with a very pleasant lady from Virginia the whole time, just a very fun casual morning talking about all sorts of stuff, borrowed her sunscreen. Finally made the potty stop, then Louiskie had to get marked. National anthem played and it was awesome, beautiful, perfect. Gorgeous sky, beautiful day. Then it was go time for the pros! I really didn't pay much attention to anyone in the water, I just tried to wrap my mind around the work ahead. Paul Kelly has always said "it's a long day, be in the moment". So I tried to do that. I was comfy. I had my wetsuit. I've done the distance before without. I was low on swim time this year, but that was okay. I staged myself at the very rear of my wave. And then it was 7:22, and we were off.