Bicycle Race

 So, apparently 2021 race is season is ON.  I know.  Color me shocked.  After the duathlon, it was quickly apparent that my first Oly Tri on June 6 was on, and then my half Ironman on June 13 was a go.  WOAH.  TIME TO TRAIN!  I know, what the hell had I been doing so far?  I freaked out, then took stock.  Run?  Decently solid.  Bike?  Oh hell yeah.  No aero yet, but that's a damned unicorn, right?  Swim?  Fastest times ever.  It was time to dream big, baby!  

I took the next few weeks of build seriously.  Hit the pool, busted out my speedwork, and even nailed an 19.7 average on the bike for a 30 mile tempo workout. On. Fire.

May 15th came.  May. 15th.  Its the day that'll go down in history, folks.  It's my Doc Brown red letter date.  I can't really explain it, but I had just come off that spectacular ride above.  I was talking to the outlaw about his race that day and specifically, his bike split.  I was due to ride for an hour, easy, with the Banter that afternoon.  I just had had a great run but I felt...flat.  Uninspired.  Tired of the same old bike bullshit.  Sure, I was able to ride without freaking out, but I wont lie, I still hated stopping.  I still couldn't ride in aero.  I still couldn't do anything but bring my bike from point A to B.  I got mad.  WTF was I doing?  I stood up, stretched, and said Self.  (And I knew that it was me, cause I recognized my voice), This is bullshit.  Go fucking ride your bike.  So I grabbed my helmet and gear, and rode a one mile loop around my neighborhood.  I unclipped at ever stop sign.  I dropped into aero at every straight.  I practiced cornering.  Cornering in aero.  shifting to stop.  shifting for my mini hill. 

Then I'd turn around in my driveway and do it again.  Forty five minutes later, the Banter showed up as I was cornering a turn in aero.  Hell yeah.  We went for a twenty mile ride where I started my normal bullshit about riding in aero on back roads.  He goes "Ya know, I'd just love it if you dropped in on Lake and did it".  So....I did.  18 miles of terrifying aero work that also felt....liberating as hell.  I stopped on a dime during the ride.  Stopped for a light.  And then flew, a smile on my face.

Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was my ride.  Every day that week I practiced my technique, which rapidly progressed to bottle hand offs, gels on a ride (I haven't eaten on a bike...ever) and um...flying dismounts (I didn't stutter).  Four days after my version of total immersion, I was full fledged aero riding, able to stop whenever, comfortable one handed riding, and flying dismounting pretty darn well!  Who am I?

As luck would have it, I had a race to test these skills on!  Silver Serpent Tri was June 6th.  I dropped from the Olympic to the Sprint with one week to go - since my Half Ironman was only a week out, I thought it would be better not to trash my legs the day before the race.  Greg was on board, I talked the Outlaw into racing (it wasn't a hard sell) so at o dark thirty, we headed to Perry, NY, to kick off the tri season.

It was HOT.  Forecast of mid nineties for the day and already low seventies at 7am.  We dropped our gear at T2 for the run (this was a two transition race) then rode our bikes down to the lake (also a first for me, riding in flip flops and with a giant T bag.)  Saw so many friends - and new friends!!   It almost felt...normal.  We applied our super cool ace tattoos, and apparently even though I'm now a faster, I'm still a dumbass and put mine on upside down.  With that I went from 38 to "8E" and created a whole new AG, thereby securing a definite win (I uh, planned that).  Offered to help the boys apply their tats and they were somehow hesitant (I don't get it - I mean, I DID make Ryan EE last year at Barrelman so its not like I have a track record 😂).  Uh, somehow I managed to get my gear all set up without hurting myself, and headed down to the swim area.  Snapped a few team pics and some pics with friends, and before I knew it, it was time to hit the water!!

Swim: 14:24 (1:48/100)...maybe

Pre race, I did a short warm up and seeded myself toward the front.  I didn't know what to expect - I saw another racer that I knew was a faster runner, but I wasn't sure what her swim was like (spoiler alert - it was faster than me).  Historically, I have no fear of the swim or masses, so i felt fine where i was. The gun malfunctioned, so the RD yelled GO! and we were off.  I stupidly abandoned my own race right at the beginning and chased the fast swimmers which was...again...stupid.  I know better.  I had grand illusions of placement for this race and I totally forget the cardinal rule of goal setting - you don't know who will show up.  I went out way the hell too fast, forgot to breathe, and found myself 200 yards in, gasping for breath and totally disoriented.  I couldn't right it.  I tried to pause.  Breathe every stroke.  Looked for a kayak and couldn't find one.  Got pissed.  That didn't help.  I finally resorted to flipping on my back and kicking for a good minute.  WTF was this.  This has NEVER happened to me.  EVER.  The water was a little choppy but not even close to the top ten of choppy swims in my fifteen years of racing.  UGH.  I finally got my shit together and brought it in for the second half with my standard steady stroke.  Hit the shore with a swim time of 14:24, well off my goal of 13 minutes (though, according to Garmin my swim time was 13:39, which means there was the 45 seconds I spent on my back).  Disgusted with myself, I hit T1 for the part I was really looking forward to, THE BIKE!

Bike: 36:56 (20.6 mph)

I grabbed my cool looking aero helmet (Thanks Banter!) and headed for the mount line.  Right away, my coolness quotient was immediately negated by a volunteer who pointed out that...I put it on backyards  WTF Rae.  WTF.  An aero helmet, in case you are unfamiliar (see image to the right), has a friggin long duck tail (woo-ooo) that extends off the back of the helmet, theoretically making you faster as it streamlines your position on the bike.  Ya know.  If you wear it the right way and not like some mystical friggin narwhal.  I, um, stopped my bike, uttered a few curses, and was off as a properly chastised Pathetic Triathlete (I sincerely hope someone got a picture of my bullshit.)  Climbed the short, steep turn right off the gate, then onto the main road!  I settled right into aero and started my chase.  It was hot, windy, and I won't lie, my bullshit on the swim definitely burned matches and I had some issues breathing, but this was it, baby.  The bike.  I wanted to - catch some women, bike strong, and rock the aero position.  Which I did.  I never got passed on the bike (actually, after exiting the swim I never got passed...ever.  A first!) and I zoomed down all the hills, including the bendy steeper downhill where I tucked into aero and hit almost 40.  SCORE!  The first 10 miles of the bike were epic, then we hit the town portion, where the volunteers, bless them, were no match for the cars out.  I had to slam on the brakes twice for cars (WTF) and also once in town for a red light (GAHH!!) Even with all of the heat, I managed to coast into T2 with an average of 20.3 if you buy my Garmin, 20.6 per Strava.  I set an overall QOM/course record for the sprint tri segment (WOOT!) and nailed my flying dismount.  (DOUBLE WOOT!)  Found Greg in T2 and he informed me that there was one woman ahead of me at that point...It was time to hunt!

I should also note that....while I did 95% of the ride in aero, apparently, the one time I cornered and got out of aero to pass someone was the split second recorded in eternity.  Note the cool race pics for Greg and Ryan - nice, open field, great shots, awesome aero position:

Then, there's me. 

Mid pass, business face, up close non bad assness.  Typical.  At least I have my helmet on (SMH).  Keepin it real, people!

Run: 24:38/7:58 pace

Well, as history would have it, the run is my strong suit.  Spoiler alert - it wasn't this time.  It was hot as balls out, and I sort of just lost it about a mile in.  Took off at a steady a clip, averaging about 7:30s.  My goal was 7-7:15 pace but with the heat, I wasn't trying to be foolish, so I kept it steady.  I noticed first place at about mile 1, and she was pretty far ahead - and I realized I probably wouldn't catch her.  Totally missed the aid station behind a truck, hit the turnaround about 12 minutes in.  I saw 3rd place on the way back ad she was roughly 4 minutes behind me, so I'll just call a spade a spade and admit that I raced only to keep my position at that point.  I wanted to go under 1:20, as my decade old PR was almost 1:23 for a sprint. I walked the uphills, ran the flats and downhills, and of course, sprinted to the end, finishing in 1:19:14. Which, because its me, the race photography friggin missed, so he asked me to pretend to run through again.  LOL.
Much obliged, you know I gave them a damned show.  Cause, #serioustriathlete, amiright??

Post race, I collected my award (there was no award ceremony, so you know with my track record, I just had to place overall, right?  I cheered in some friends, Greg, and caught up with the Outlaw ( he placed 3rd overall!) and just plain hung out, enjoying the feeling of "back to normal (ish)"?

The three overall women decided to make our own podium and we posed as such - I found out first place beat me by almost 2:00 out of the water, so where I thought I lost my time was, in fact, accurate!

I definitely walked away with some lessons learned.  First of all, race your own race.  Second, leave the damned swim behind you.  Third....triathlon is, in fact, three sports (woah.  I'm so brilliant).

I did find out I set the sprint segment record on Strava, nailing a QOM.  Sweet!  That's (Queen of the Mountain, in case you're a normal person and not a crazy triathlete.  Somehow, Queen had it right - it was, in fact, a Bicycle Race for me!

Up next is Eagleman on June 13th in Cambridge, MD. - its a half ironman, my favorite distance!  Not quite sure what the day will bring but I intend to give it my all!  2021, baby!