Rob gave me a great two minute cushion as he was the second runner to come into the transition area. I fumbled with the timing chip; then finally got it in place. I jumped on my bike and completely missed both pedals; then finally got clipped in. I got underway and headed out of town when the race went BOOM!
There was nobody on the road ahead of me.
Last year, I was amazed at the number of people struggling along the opening road. This year, there was nobody. I was on my own. Somewhere about 4-5 miles into the ride, I was caught and passed by an actual triathlete. That was a saving grace b/c it finally gave me something to keep pace with. Don't get me wrong, he dropped me, but I kept him in sight long enough to finally figure out a rhythm.
Two or three other tri guys passed me before the climb up Higney Hill. But once on the climb, I was finally able to begin reeling people in. Once past the climb and through a new section of rollers added this year, a group of three (including me) formed. We picked off another half dozen riders on the long descent. And then probably another 4-6 riders on the way into town. I hit a wall on the false flat that began the route into town and got gapped a little bit. I didn't catch back on but only lost about 5-10 seconds to the other two members of my threesome.
Turns out, one of those guys, was our duathlon relay challenger. The one Rob saw leave the transition area after me. Apparently Rob had about a 90-second gap on their runner because the rider beat me by about that much on the bike leg. Obviously, he had a great ride (which I confirmed after talking to him after the race). I had a good one, but just not great. No worries, though, as we still picked up the victory by two minutes.
Thanks Rob! It was a little bit closer than the 20 minute gap we had last year, but it still was a great time. And fun to get a little nervous over!
Thanks to Big Dan for coming out to see the end of the race as well. Great to see good people on challenging days!
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