Richland Mountain Bike Triathlon

I decided to drive to Richland and see how well I could do with suspension, knobby tires, and single track riding. The race was a pretty cool venue; we raced in/by the Columbia River in a nice park, the bike was bike paths and dirt bike trails. The bike was actually the perfect opportunity to commit one of the biggest triathlon sins ever, aero bars mounted on a mountain bike. Whaaaat? Yep, it’s a fact, I saw lots of people with that setup, I think I have learned the course secret. I plan to use aero bars if I ever return. Sshhhhhhh.

Pre race shots and getting ready for the swim!

Okay, so the race, it was cold in the river! It was a waist-deep start and the first thing you do when the gun goes off is swim like a mad-man to get into the current of the river. I spent the majority of the swim behind pro triathlete Ryan Brown, he lives in the area so I figured I would follow his line to navigate the currents. The strategy worked perfectly because I came out of the water on his feet. I used a helping hand to exit the river and make my way to transition. I had a great transition and left in first overall. I am very satisfied with my swimming this year!

I felt pretty good the week leading up the race, and I was excited to race my mountain bike. I cleaned it up to the standard of a road bike and I’m positive it was the cleanest of the 275+ mountain bikes at the race. The gears shifted in an instant and the drive train was whisper quiet. I was, however, a little nervous because I am not a mountain biker. I have only ridden that bike a handful of times since 2008. My main concern going into the bike was staying on the sucker and keeping the rubber side down.

My strategy for the bike was to ride hard on the pavement sections, get to the single track and use (legal) blocking to hold up the pack. The race rules mandated no passing in the single-track sections so I planned to hammer to get there and block like a mutha! Pure genius really.

Anyway, the bike went just like I thought it would, lots of poor cornering, terrible lines, jerky braking, and the inability to stay on the trail. But, you know what, it was fun. I was just there to have fun and I was accomplishing that. The course was cool, it had sections that the brush was cut into tunnels so you had to duck down to go through it. Other sections were twisting blind corners with walls of brush on both sides. The bike was awesome because I would never have ridden a course like that in any road triathlon.

I was having fun, but I was getting passed, a lot. Every time I looked back there was another rider set to pass. These guys were in a league above me in mountain bike skills and it showed. It was amazing to see the lines and corners that the riders ahead of me could carve. I compare it to professional waterskiing, those riders were so fast and smooth, the arcs they rode were impressive. My rough lines consisted of jerking the brakes, skidding the tires, going off the course, and then hitting the gas. Ha ha. My lead evaporated and I lost over 10 spots during the bike before getting back to transition 2. I think it is fair to say that the race in Richland may be righteous, but my mountain bike riding is not.

Onto the run, I knew I was too far out of contention to podium but I was right in the thick of it for my 20 plus person age group. I ran hard, at mile 1 I ran by a condo cooking bacon and eggs. I almost threw up because the thought of bacon (and the smell) was disgusting in my moments of exertion. Ssssiiiiick. I made it out to the turnaround and headed back to the finish. Just before mile 3 two people passed me. I shadowed the trailing runner until I was in sight of the finish. With 200 meters to go I gave it everything I had, swinging left I accelerated by the duo doing a full sprint. I ran my hardest to the finish and was rewarded with a lot of loud cheering, the two recaptured spots, and near incapacitation.

I managed to hang on for 12th in the men’s race and 3rd in my stacked division. The race was fun, I had a great swim, I left with awards, and more importantly I kept the rubber side down the whole bike! A big thanks to Corrie for taking the awesome pictures and riding with me to the race. Overall, I am happy with the race, not a bad day at the office.