State Games Triathlon

Waking up at 3:45am for a race is tough, but it is a necessary sacrifice. Every time I wake up super early the first thing I say to myself is, “winners do the things that others don’t want to.” That usually gets me out of bed with motivation. I had not slept well the few nights leading up to the race, and I had been getting up really early, despite my motivating quote I was extremely tired. The fatigue was not physical, my muscles felt fine, the fatigue I felt was more mental. Getting to the race and getting set up was difficult for this race. I decided to swim from transition one to the swim start as I had done the previous year, narrowly making the pre race meeting and swim start.

Once the countdown started I let the race take over, 5…4…3…2…1…bang! I ran thigh deep into the water and slipped under with a streamline. I decided to swim relatively easy and save energy for the bike and run. My swimming has been nothing less than phenomenal this year (my opinion only) and I knew even while resting I would come out near the front. After the first loop of the swim I was in second place. I saw the lead swimmer sprinting down the beach as he put time into me, and the field.

I ran easy along the beach and re-entered the water for lap two about 25 seconds down to first. I lifted the pace slightly for the remaining 400 meters of the swim, gradually pulling back time from the leader. I swam comfortably hard during the swim and when my hand hit bottom, I was very pleased to see I had closed the gap to super swim Chandler to less than 10 seconds. My swim came through again, what a year for the swim!

I knew I could scuff off most, if not all, of those 10 seconds in transition one. Ankle zippers, goggles, cap, suit, OFF. Race belt, glasses, helmet, GONE. I left transition 5 seconds or so out of the lead. The first part of the 16 mile bike course is flat but has numerous twists and turns. Once on the bike my awareness was raised because the lead cyclist was doing two things that I found odd.

The first, he was sitting up and hardly pedaling, the second, he was looking over his shoulder at every turn. It only took a few seconds for me to figure out his plan. He was waiting for me, so that he could draft me. I knew that he was going to latch onto my wheel because his hope to win was during the swim and I spoiled that. His constant look backs were assurance he would be ready to get on my wheel when I passed.

For the first four miles on the bike road is relatively flat, I pulled this guy on my wheel for every one of them. He was definitely gaining an advantage by being in my draft, whether the draft was legal distance or illegal is up for debate. I won’t accuse anyone of cheating because he can’t defend himself here. At mile four the climbs start. It was at this point that I decided that I was not going to tow this guy (legal or illegal) through the whole bike ride, and two, I would ride full power until he either lost my wheel or I detonated. At the second climb I was able to shed my shadow and go clear.

Happy with my efforts I kept the pace high for the remaining 4.2 miles of hills to the bike turn-around. At the bike turn-around I took time checks, second place had slipped to around 50 seconds and third was about 1.5 minutes. I retraced my route back up and over the hills that I had climbed on the way to the turn-around while putting time into the field. I rode pretty hard focusing on staying smooth, and staying out of the wind. On the last open corner I snuck a peak, no one in sight, nice. I made my way pack to transition two, greeted by my cheering squad: Corrie, PJ, and the Fimrites. Saaaawwweeeet.

I made a smooth T2 and left for the 5k. The guy in second place (and swim leader) must be a pretty bad mutha around these parts because people thought he should be in the race lead. They knew that someone fast and in front had to be him because at least 5 people called me by his name as I ran by. My name is Bryan, and I am spoiling the race, thank you very much, suckers. At mile 1 I felt labored, but not in trouble. At mile 2 I was running tough. I thought I had the race sealed up. Another mile and it would be my victory party at the line.

*The Murder Machine sits alone in T2 awaiting the chasers 

I re-entered the park for the final lap around the lake. I knew 2nd place was closing fast because I saw him at the run turn-around. I think he came off the bike in 3rd, but he was running super fast, like sub 5:30 fast. With less than a mile to go I heard his footsteps, a minute later he made the pass. I lost contact with him as he ran to the win, I settled for 2nd place, the swim leader came in for 3rd.

Despite thinking I had the win, I wasn’t really disappointed with second place. I had a great race, my swim and bike were awesome, my cheering section was the best at the race, and I have never lead that race that late. I know that with another year or two of run training I will see drastic improvement in my ability to match the swiftest runners in the field. Thanks to everyone that cheered me on and made my trip awesome, PJ’s triathlon apartment and hospitality, the Fimrites for their cheers, and Corrie for all her support. Thank you all so much.

*The Podium 3

*An excellent cheering squad

For me, I know what I need to do, I am going to a running base camp to find my running speed…

State Games Road Race

Last Saturday was the State Games road race. Corrie was fresh off her marathon, and I was racing in a triathlon the next day, but not to be deterred we decided to sign up. It is a thin line to walk, or ride, when you are racing the day before a race, but I was confident I could remain under control and not cause any damage to my tri performance.

We arrived at the race, got everything set up, and went over a few race tactics. Corrie has been riding her bike a lot this summer so I knew if she raced smart she had a chance to do very well. We got very lucky in the fact that the men and women started and raced in the same group; this allowed me to ride domestique, working for Corrie.

*Rocking the Montana State Kit

The race started with a slow roll out, we were not supposed to have any hard efforts for the first quarter mile, disregarding the director’s orders three or four people took off immediately and gapped the group. By “no hard efforts” the director must have meant “attack immediately,” or “don’t listen to a word I am saying.”

After we made it out of the slow zone, I told Corrie “stay on my wheel, I will take us to the front.” I used a few passing riders to tow our team of two up through the field. By the second mile of the 20 kilometer ride we had made it to the front and regrouped with the initial rule breakers. I looked over my shoulder, Corrie was right on my hip. Corrie and I sat content near the back of the front group when a guy put in a solo attack, he was gone before I could make any sort of covering move from the back of the field. The group was content to let him go because no one seemed to even notice, or care, that he was leaving. I wasn’t going to chase him down so he road solo the rest of the way for the win. The action of the race was in our chase pack.

*Very back of the peloton

 

*Making our way through the back of the field, patiently

For the next 5 miles or so the group did not work together at all, in fact, I sat at the front of the pack pulling everyone. I wasn’t riding hard, I was actually doing a great pre-triathlon pace, I had intentions of watching over one person (not winning the race) so I told Corrie to hold my wheel and I raised the pace a little bit. It was a pretty good strategy because a few guys and all the remaining women contenders were spit off the back of our group unable to hold the pace. All I had to do was protect Corrie the remaining 10k or so and she would win.

*At the front of the field, planning our finishing attack before closing the gap to the break away

Our group was now four riders. There were a couple times when the two men tried to put in attacks on Corrie and me, the gap would materialize but I would get Corrie on my wheel and pull us back up to the pack over the next half mile or so. For the last 4 miles I stuck to the leaders’ wheels and Corrie stayed tucked into my draft. At mile 10 one of the leaders went to the back of our group. I knew he was going to the back of the pack to rest and then launch a sprint attack at the line. I couldn’t believe it when I found out he wasn’t going to attack at all, in fact our race strategy had cracked him and he fell off the group.

*A windy but very scenic course

With a mile to go the group was three, I made a quick assessment of the situation. Other than the cracking guy that was just dropped, no one was in a threatening position of attack. My pace setting earlier in the race had splintered off racers along the course, perfect. Corrie had the women’s race in the bag so my job was done. Just then the other guy in our group made an attack and opened a gap. I tried to cover it and pull Corrie and myself back up with him. I ran out of room because he crossed the line in 2nd overall, Corrie and I rolled over the line 2 seconds later.

*Our cheer squad

I wasn’t disappointed, I was happy for the guy who got 2nd because he seemed genuinely happy with his race, and I was very happy that Corrie won the women’s race! It was a great day, Corrie won, I was able to help, Corrie’s family was giving great cheers, and I had the perfect amount of effort for a pre-triathlon spin.

*Treats, water, and awards

After the race Corrie received a well-deserved winner’s medal, and I received a medal for my 3rd place in the men’s race. Medals are sweeeetttt!!!!

The Sweet Whisper of Mechanical Perfection

I awake to silence, my internal warning system telling something is wrong. I look at the clock, I have over slept, the race starts in an hour! I hustle to the race, get my bike into transition, put my wetsuit on and run to the swim start, no one is there, they have already started. The race director approaches me and said I missed the start by 15 minutes. I do the quick math in my head, I can catch them, just let me start. I convince the director that I am a fast swimmer and that I can make it back up with the pack. He is hesitant but concedes.

I run as fast as I can to the water and start swimming to catch the pack that started on time. I swim, and swim, and swim in my dreamy nightmare of missing the swim start. I actually make it back up into the last group of swimmers before making an exit to transition. I get to my bike convinced that I can make somewhat of a "go" out of this race. Something is wrong...where is my helmet? My helmet is gone, I can't finish the race... My eyes slowly open as I regain consciousness, wondering where I am I glance at the clock that reads 2 hours before my wake up time. I have had "the dream" again.

I have had this exact dream before every race big race, which means I have had this same dream about 30 times since I started in 2005. The scenario is always the same, I miss the swim start, work my way past adversity only to be totally shut down with a missing helmet, shoe, wheel, or bike.

Some things keep me awake at night, things like being late to a race, having my bike fly off a bike rack, and especially having my bikes (or car) in the control of someone else. The idea of having strange hands tweaking things on my bike, having my bike tossed around in the back of a shop, or the sick feeling of dread knowing that when I pick up my bike something will either be messed up or damaged is extremely disturbing to me.

My position is justified, I could go on and on about the ridiculous things that bike shops have done to my bikes in the past, but I will take the high road here. I won't mention names but let me just say the lack of respect for the customer, other's belongings (expensive belongings), and pride in their work has kept my rides out of bike shops since 2006. Not every bike shop is bad however, but the bad ones are what make me hesitant to hire them.

If you have every seen me before a race you know how calculated I am with my bikes, if my saddle slips a millimeter I am running around asking, "who the heck messed with my bike?!" I am so dialed in that I notice the slightest shift in my saddle, handlebars, or even cable tension. It is for this reason that I work on all my own bikes. When my road bike developed a super annoying "creak" I was determined to fix the problem myself. I figured anyone with a masters degree should be able to handle anything bike related. I was set on fixing this creak, I would tweak this, turn that, grease this part, dry off that part, swap the wheels out, pull off the bottle cages, put the cages back on, all in attempt to silence the creak. I tried different pedals, I bought tools and parts, I pulled the crankset off, and even overhauled the bottom bracket. In fact I took out the bottom bracket cartridge, cleaned the frame, chiseled off every rough spot inside the bracket, and reassembled it.

Every little fix required a test ride, hoping for a fix I would mount my bike, hold my breath and listen for the creak. Every above mentioned item brought nothing, the creak would sound, my hopes would dash as my ideas for a fix wained. I actually lost sleep because my bike was hurt and I was out of ideas. 95 percent of riders would simply ride on and ignore the creak, or turn up their music. Not me, my bikes are perfect, and until they are a smooth running machine I can't enjoy a ride.

After two days of repairs I was down to my last idea, after all at this point I had a super clean drivetrain, a new bottom bracket, a spotless bike, and every part from the rear dropout to the front skewer was lubricated and cleaned spotlessly. With the attitude of "no way in haiti will this work" I pulled off the pedals, for the 3rd time, and greased the pedal washers. I tested the bike again waiting for the creak...nothing. I turned the crank harder, still silence. I had fixed it!! It was the pedal washer, a 50 cent piece of metal. I have never slept better than I did that night.

After all the things I did to my bike it rides like a dream, the time and work I put in would easily have eclipsed $300.00 at a bike shop. Not to mention I highly doubt the bike shop would have found the creak. I would have been left with a huge bill of repairs and still had the creak. After all that hard work I can strip off cranks and bottom brackets in about 5 minutes, and my bike is completely overhauled to "brand new" bike clean. Not only did I fix the problem, but I kept my bike out of the bike shop, and all the greasing and cleaning has taken my road bike to a Tour De France level clean. The gears pop instantly, the carbon cranks turn butter smooth, and the thing climbs like a billy goat.

I was climbing earlier today and it reminded me of when I use to ride horses (many years ago). When the horse went up the hill I would grab the saddle horn and hold on for dear life, scared of the sheer power underneath me. This bike reminds me of this every time I power the cranks and the bike jumps underneath me with every ounce of power being transferred forward, soooo sweeeet. 

I kid you not, after the work I did cleaning, adjusting and greasing, the bike is the most well tuned machine I have ever ridden, or seen. When the tailwind hits just right and cancels out the wind I am riding into, I can literally hear the ticking of the cycle computer because the drive train is silent. And you know what, it feels amazing because I did it all myself, for myself, to my exact standards of perfection. I could not be more pleased with the outcome. 

PS this is a new addition to my family, the nice pup helped me while I was working on my bike today.

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.