The race essentially started as a "T1". They corralled each age group at the start line (right in front of the cancelled Swim's timing-mats), and set-off each AG in 10-min. increments. I forgot what they called it. A Le Mans start? A Grand Prix start? Some reference to auto-racing where the drivers run to their cars before starting up.

Rules were no shoes, stocks, helmets, or gloves. You didn't have to don a wetsuit--probably because they knew alot of folks (like me) wouldn't even have their suits due to the cancelled swim.

You ran about 150 yards to the Transition Area, gear-up and took off.

The bike course was a 4-mile circuit, a la Criterium. The roads were pretty crappy, with lots of uneven patching, potholes, tree-branch bumps, etc. Not as bad as I had "imagined" after reading up on this race, but not smooth riding by any means. Flat as a pancake.

Lots and lots of turns through the Treasure Island neighborhood. I'm not kidding when I saw there were probably 30 turns, or chicanes, per circuit. Bike handling was definitely an issue (not my strong suit by any means). In fact, this course was definitely better suited to a road-bike than a tri-bike for that reason--as I kept having to frequently leave my aero position to negotiate corners and traffic.

By the second and third lap, though, I stayed in aero for some of the less aggressive turns.

Additionally, the course was wet from the previous night's rain, with big puddles that you wanted to avoid because you didn't know what deep potholes lurked beneath.

There was one stretch of road where the wind was a factor, along the waterfront--running parallel to the run-course. Not a big factor, just a enough to slow you down a bit and require a gear change.

Saw lots of flats (at least a half-dozen) on the course. I lost my waterbottle somewhere on the 1st and 2nd circuit, cause when I became thirsty on the third--I reached back for my water bottle to only grab air. Damn.

Note: Saw alot of obvious drafting going on today. Don't know if it was on purpose (though I'm sure some of it was from what I saw). But, this criterium style course kind of forced everyone to ride in tight-packs...defacto pelotons.

Take a road bike. Practice on circuit-style course, where turns, negotiating heavy traffic, and accelerations are the rule.

Well, I haven't been training much or very hard for this season-ending race. I signed-up more to fulfill a 4-race/year requirement for my Club, than for any actual desire to race. But, its been good to at least get my to the gym and on the bike a little.

Do some higher-intensity intervals in preparation for this race. My previous training was all geared towards long-course--and Sprints are for the fleet-of-feet and hummingbird-of-heart. Needless to say, neither are my strongsuits.

Walked to my bike, grabbed my gear, and headed towards the car.


End-of-season "blahs", and mediocre motivation. I pushed because I was wearing my Club colors, and definitely didn't want to lollygag with them on.


Good organization. Crappy road conditions for the bike. Crit-style course means adjusting some tactics and even equipment (use a road bike). But, overall, in a pretty setting by the Bay.