Mussel Musings: Anyone want a QR?

I'm bruised, chafed, sore, and I have permanent marker signs on my body.  Guess I must have raced yesterday!
Well, race isn't the word.  I participated.  Was it my best time?  No way.  Did I have a blast every step of the way?  (For 90% if it) you bet I did!
Before I delve into the good ole "race report" (coming tomorrow) I have a confession to make (that some of you have totally caught me on!) 
I did not Aquabike.
I probably should have.
But after I got clearance to run last week, I started wondering...was 70.3 possible?
I did a tester 4 miler last week.  Had to run/walk and pay attention to the foot (no uneven ground, etc.) but I did it.  So I decided that I would base how I felt on Saturday....dod I want to race an aqua bike or complete a 70.3?
I wanted the 70.3!  Knowing that I would have to ease off the bike and would have a slow (for me) half marathon was worth it to do the whole thing.
I was in.
And then....my bike happened.  We changed out the training wheels for the race wheels on Wednesday, thinking that it would be enough time to test 'em out.  Took it for a ride on Thursday....and noticed half my gears were missing.  Eff.
Friday, the hubster took out his tools and worked through the shifters.  Stripped a derailleur screw.
Dammit.
In a panic, we took it to the bike shop, who got me in at the last minute and recabled my bike, put in a new screw, and a new chain (apparently I needed it).  They also advised a new cable for the other shifter, but said I was good to go.  Ran through the gears...a-okay.
Took her out for a test run Saturday morning.  Still missing half my gears, and now, had no small chain ring.
WTF.
The hubster and I worked on it Saturday, admitted defeat, and got to the race early on Sunday to have Geneva Bike shop check it out.

56 miles of....not fun :-P  Of course I did it!

They told me my other cable was useless, re cabled the other side, and spent 20 minutes working on the 'roo. 

 At the end of which they told me that my housing was too short and anytime I turned the handlebars (you know, to, um, turn) that the shifting would eff up.  Lovely.  Did I mention this was not a point to point bike?  They told me I needed to get the cable housing redone because it was too short for the setup.  WTF!  The hubster reminded me that we reinstalled the aero bars a few weeks ago, which might have messed up the cable housing.

Perfect.

Well, there wasn't much I could do with that knowledge and a race 45 minutes away, so I put on my big girl....bike skirt...and off I went.

Race details tomorrow, of course, but suffice to say, the bike was not pleasant.  I did a face plant 2 seconds out of transition (not the bikes fault, the mount line was crowded and some dude stopped dead in front of me as I clipped in) and ended up on the grass with my bike.  It knocked my computer off the sensor, busted my aero hydration, and annoyed the $hit out of me, but such is life.  Spent a good 5 minutes at mile 1 trying to get everything back in order, but I had no data for half the bike and a tippy hydration system.  Awesome.

Get this effing bike away from me!

And the shifters?  Nope, Geneva wasn't lying.  I operated that ride with 3 gears:  The hardest gear in the big chain ring (for busting down hills), one medium gear in the big chain ring (for mashing flats) and the granny gear in the big chain ring.  Nothing else would catch, and.../no small chain ring.  It made a few of the hills interesting, to say the least?

Now, with that said, once my computer kicked in at mile 30 and we got off the last hill at mile 32, I kicked in.  I decided what the eff, I can't run too well anyways, and mashed the heck out of that course, passing tons of people in the last hour.  Wahoo!! 

Pretty torked off at the bike.  I'm taking her to reform school (the bike shop) today and need a fix, pronto!

With that said, I did NOT race the bike.  5 minutes slower than last year (when it was 98) and alot of cursing to show for it.  Oh, and a Thunderstorm and driving rain for 45 minutes.  Yikes!

With that said, I had a great time anyways.  I think there's a fine line between knowing when it's a race and when its time to appreciate the fact that you can even be out there doing the distance.  And as soon as I realized my gear dilemma at mile 2 of the bike...I embraced it.  And had a great time :-) 

INCLUDING the 13.1 run (run walk)

 Race report tomorrow...today...it's time for some couch and Bachelorette.  I fully support a day off after yesterday! 

Mussel Start...love this race for everyone you get to see, it's one big tri party!

So....anyone want a Quintana Roo?  We're not on speaking terms....