This past Sunday was the second of the series of Long Branch triathlons for 2009. A fun, low-key, local tri, I'll never pass up racing here if I don't have weekend plans. The course is ~600 yards swim, 18.5 miles bike, 5 miles running. There was a total of almost 500 people, which is the highest ever, and a great sign for local triathlon. Pretty soon, they'll be closing that race out.
I've finally decided that I really need a more comfortable saddle if I'm going to be riding as much as I do. I demo'd the Adamo road saddle, and liked it, so decided to keep it on my bike for the race.
Saturday:
My friend Mike came down to visit from NYC. We spent the day at the beach (biking each way, ~17 miles total, at ~16 mph). Overall, a nice relaxing day. A few beers at night, and bed by midnight. I hadn't used my tri bike since my race last weekend (a full rest week), with the exception of a few miles trying out the new saddle. This meant that my pre-race bike routine consisted of packing a spare parts bottle.
Sunday:
Pack my gear, inflate my tires, and in the car by 6:15 for a 7:00 start. Stupid. Parked at 6:30, transition set up by 6:40, and the check-in line is >10 minutes long. By the time I have my number, it's a sprint to the hotel next door to lose some solid weight, and a sprint to the beach for the start, which I made by not more than 2 minutes. Next time I'll be leaving earlier. Quick hello to my lifeguarding friend Mike, and we're off.
Swim:
Last month's race, I was completely by myself on the swim. Absolutely nobody nearby. This month, with Mike there, and a few other people comfortable in the ocean, there were at least people near me. Even so, my years of ocean swim racing and ocean lifeguarding never fail me, and I was in a decisive first within 20 seconds of the start - a lead I held for the whole swim.
T1: Last month, when I got out of the water, I ran to the bottom of the ramp leading up from the beach, only to discover that there was 30 yard fence to the side. This time, I knew about the fence, and looked. Fortunately, someone had removed the section nearest the ramp, so I didn't have to run around. Up the ramp, around transition, and in from the far end. Mike got to the top of the ramp just before I got to my bike, probably about 25 seconds behind me, and in 2nd place. Wet suit off, helmet on, and I was off in what was a very fast transition.
Bike: The police on course did a great job directing traffic around me. I'm always worried about traffic when I'm a clear first on the bike. I fear that the police won't realize that the race is coming when they see a lone cyclist, and not stop traffic. They did, and I had a smooth first half of the first lap. About 5 miles in, there is one un-policed intersection, the light was red, so I had to slow down and sit up to check for traffic. They choose this intersection to be the uncontrolled one for a reason, and I'm off without having to dip below 15 mph. I look behind me, and second place is already closer to me than I'd like. He passes me around mile 7, and I try my best to hang on (4 lengths back, of course). Ultimately, I manage to keep his lead under 50 seconds, which I cut to 30 in T2.
Lap 2 of the bike is always far more interesting, with lots of slow people on course. Most of them were good about moving out of the way when I called, I only had one issue. At one point, we only have one lane to travel in, and a guy was taking way to long to pass a group. I yelled at him a few times, and eventually he gave me room while cursing me off. I think he was surprised, however, when I blew by at ~24 mph - he must've assumed I was in his wave, right behind him, and not lapping him. Pretty clean race to the end of the bike. It also didn't help that my new saddle, which I had been toying around with, wasn't clamped on tight enough. At the start of lap two, a bump caused it to drop down several clicks, making the position very hard on my shoulders. Never again will I under-tighten that bolt.
T2: Another very fast transition; no socks, hat and glasses on while running. Took about 2 miles to pass the leader, and I was in first until mile 3.5. At that point, 'John', a 26 year old in blue wearing headphones (all I know about him, I'll have to introduce myself next month if he's there) catches me. He's breathing quite hard, and I make my race decision - I don't know if I can hold him off in a sprint, but he sounds tired, so if I gradually pick up the pace, hopefully he'll tire out first. A little over a mile of this, and with a half mile to go, we're moving quite quickly (volunteer wasn't calling out the turnaround, and since people on the short course were ALL taking a longer route, we both agree to just stay with the field and make the race longer, by .3 miles). Half mile to go, I drop the hammer. The move went unanswered, and I was all alone to the finish, with a huge smile on my face, and one of my favorite race photos ever:
As sweet as the win was, it got even better when I saw the Overall Results. It turns out that second place overall was 40 seconds faster then me, looking just at swim/bike/run results, but I beat him by a whopping 63 seconds in transitions. And people say that transition time is negligible.
Up next: two weeks of training, then my first real sprint triathlon up in north Jersey with some of my college swimming friends (400 yd swim, 12 mile bike, 5k run. Fast stuff).
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