First try with a wetsuit. Didn't help my time much at all. Seemed as if I couldn't breath as well. Did keep me warm. Started in the last wave, so there were some "obstacle" issues that I'm not used to dealing with. Got kicked at least 3 or 4 times by breaststrokers. Once had to actually stop to work out a path through a slow bunch.

Practice more with wetsuit, adjust it so it is a little more loose t the neck. Really expected to fly with it on as it certainly improves my flotation.

Wetsuit removal went very well until the left leg got turned under around my timing chip. That cost me about 15 secs. A little trouble getting into my shoes while riding uphill (new Shimano shoes don't stay open as LG's did0>

Back to my LG shoes. Figure out the wetsuit timing chip interaction better. Chip was under my wetsuit, still got caught up somehow.

Fun ride. Since I started in the last swim wave I had lots of people to pass. The hills were fairly short but steep. On the first there were actually some people walking their bikes near the top. Congested in places, and I got very good at yelling "ON YOUR LEFT." I had a blast on this ride. Max speed was 39.7 mph down one hill. That's pretty exciting on aerobars. I was passed by no one. Wish I had had someone to push me a bit as I'm pretty sure I could have gone a little harder with the right motivation.

Practice more on hills.

Wasn't even sure I was going to run due to my torn meniscus so I didn't scream through as I usually might have. I was trying to asses my condition while running the bike in.

I have a torn meniscus, and had committed to not running if any pain. Started rather tentatively to see how the knee was going to do. I was passed by 3 or 4 people in the first mile. Knee was holding up so I began to pick up the pace. Had a little pain just before the 3 mile point, and got very nervous, as in the past I've gone from little pain to almost unable to walk in a < 100 yds. Luckily, not this time. Managed to finish up strong.

Have a healthy knee!

Walked a bit and stretched. Rehydrated and had a snack.


Torn meniscus, and maybe limited experience with wetsuit and hills. Overall very excited I was able to do the entire race, as that was not in the cards two weeks ago. Also, got a nice original coffee mug as AG award.


Excellent race and wonderful alternative to the typically flat rides around here. Well organized and lots of friendly volunteers and police. I thanked everyone of them as I rode or ran past. Highly recommend, but sign up early as they can't have more total participants due to park limitations.