MinneMan Triathlon (Page 4)

That's just plain wrong.

So, I just e-mailed the RD to ask if he knew if there was a chance the lake would be too warm for wetsuits.  I was thinking maybe he had checked it or knew something about it from past history.  But he said "might be, might not be, prepare for both".  Okey dokey...  

I might set a new slow OWS record on the course if I can't wear the wetsuit.  So I've got that going for me!

I am sure Bill Copenhagen is annoyed with me, but he sent this further response (which I thought was very nice and I feel better now):

Considering the shallowness of the lake it will always be touch and go.  I will not have a chance to get up there before Friday so it'll be  anyone's guess what the current water temp is. I will say this, the  USAT officials will do everything in their power short of rowing a  canoe to the center of the lake to get a temperature reading that is  below 78°. It is everyone's best interest for it to be a wetsuit legal  race.

Sorry, I cannot give you a more specific idea about water temp. To date, we've never had a non-wetsuit race, but the race is only in its third year.

Sorry to hear about your knee, Androgenie! 

My, my.  I went for a bike ride today and look at all the fun I missed!

I went up to ride the Minneman course today with Triathlete Jr.  Let's just say it was a VERY slow ride.  His first time riding on the road and a fair bit of anxiety about it.  This from my kid who is absolutely fearless (not crazy, just fearless) about water sports...who'd have thought?  Anyway, on this lovely 14mph ride I was reminded how friendly the course is.  There is one "hill" that isn't really a hill, and you get a nice downhill leading into it.

Now, to my point for this post.  I looked all over for signs indicating swimmers' itch problems.  Nothing was posted and they had a bazoodle of YMCA camp kids in the lake.  We reasoned that if there was still a known problem they wouldn't have had all the kids in there.  Let's hope my logic works.

Second, I looked for a place to meet so we don't have to count on naked bodies.  (And I think I have to draw the motherly line on letting my kids draw the B & T on-site....) Anyway, as you stand in the transition area facing the bathroom building, to the right is a triangle of grass that separates the in & out to the parking lot.  There are a couple of really big pine trees there - you can't miss it.  Perhaps we could park ourselves there?  It allows us to see the t-area and the beach so we won't miss anything, and it's close to the bathrooms!

Oh, and while I'm on a roll, I now recall that this is the race where the sprinklers in the park were perfectly lined up with the porta-john line...you could shower while standing in line, and then, while in the porta-john, get rained on!

I'm just a little giddy today because my new bike just might be ready for Saturday and despite all the conventional wisdom about not trying anything new on race day, if it's in, I'm riding it!

I don't want anyone to get the impression I thought Bill was stressed or anything other than nice.  It was just my Minnesotan self-deprecating "Oh I am sure he's tired of me know" kind of statement.  He proven to be nothing less than outstandingly nice and helpful.

Kris - THANK YOU for the course report.  It's nice to know about the bike course.  I really want to at least drive it and hope to head up there tomorrow since I have the day off (yay!).   Good luck with the bike.  I am sure you could take it for a quick ride when you get it to get used to it enough for the race. 

The weather sounds truly awesome to me.   It will be welcomed by me because I could be racing as late as 10:30. 

I'm up for going out after!  Anyone else?

Thanks, Kris, for the bike course report. I'm always worried about hills since I rarely train on them, so I'm glad to hear there really aren't any.

See you all on Saturday at the pine tree/bathroom triangle!