It’s been a week and a half since the triathlon. I placed 238 out of 404. Total time was 1:49. First place was 1:10. They’ve not posted the splits but I know my swim was horrendous. My bike and run legs were pretty good though. My brother placed 122 as he is a much better swimmer. I’m interested to compare our times.
I thought my transitions were great! No hiccups in getting my wetsuit off or getting my bike gear on. In the future I need to figure out a better energy consumption plan. The course didn’t really allow us to take a lot of time to consume. I’m thinking of trying hammer gel or something that is more liquid than gel packs.
The whole experience was awesome! I finished what I set out to do and will do more triathlons in the future. If you’ve not done one, go out and tri!
So on Sunday our first triathlon takes place. Today we are going to rent our wetsuits and continue to train this week. It’s been a great experience. My swimming is so much stronger and I know I’ll finish. Close to the front pack? No but finishing which is all I want to do.
As far as the crash, I’m healing nicely and my bike is all fixed.
10. First Aid Kit It doesn’t have to be huge but throw a couple different bandages and some alcohol wipes in your seat bag or pack. I was hit by a car today and had my kit with me. I was bleeding pretty good but my first aid kit had everything I needed to stop and clean up the bleeding.
9. Obeying the Law Stop at lights, signs, pedestrians, etc. We all roll through stops and such but really make sure it’s clear if you do something like that. Worst thing to happen is blow a stop and get hit by a car. That would ruin your day.
8. Bring Food Whether it’s a long or short ride bring something to eat. Gels, energy bars or nuts are all easy to pack somewhere on you or your bike. Bonking isn’t fun and can easily be prevented by a bar or two.
7. Bring Drink Water is good, great if it’s ice cold! But it does get a little boring. Bring some powder mixes for a little variety or a bottle of something.
6. Going Slower If your riding with someone new, take it easy. Don’t be a macho man and drop ‘em. Especially if it’s a girl. You want her to keep riding and still like you, right?
5. Pushing Yourself Keep track of your time, go faster, climb the “hill of death”. You can’t get better by doing the same thing day in and day out. Ride further and further out from home base.
4. How to Fix a Flat Everyone should know how to fix a flat tire. Best way is to have a spare and patch it back home. This video shows how to do it properly (according to me!).
3. Seeing Breaking Away at Least Once I watched this during my bike ride across the country.
1. Knowing When to Ease Up Don’t kill yourself because you’re pushing too fast, too far with too little rehydration/nourishment. Sometimes you’ve got to take it easy during a ride. It’s OK to go under 25 every once in awhile.
I hope you guys liked it. Get out and ride. Especially for me. Don’t get my bike back from the shop until Friday.
I just wanted to give you all an update on living without a car. It’s been about six months since I sold my car. Living in flat, compacted town makes it easy for me to do everything I need to.
Grocery shopping is easy. I have a bag on my rack and I use one of those non-throw away bags you get at the store as a backpack. It works well as I don’t need many groceries on a weekly basis. The library is a couple miles round trip and the main part of town is walking distance of a few blocks.
The only thing I really don’t have close by is hills! Have to ride a ways to ride those. As far as needing a car for an errand, it hasn’t happened. As long as you plan ahead, you should have no problems using a bike around town.
Here in Davis it’s been a bit windy. Well that’s an understatement. It’s been super windy. When a gust hits, you really feel it. Especially if it’s from the side. You really have to lean into it. During my cross country trip we ran into some strong wind. Riding 5 mph head on is tough. Especially when it’s for many miles.
It’s funny and frustrating at the same time. Pedaling so hard to go so slow. Getting thrown around like a rag doll at times.
I’m sure you’ve all heard that Lance broke his collarbone. Accidents in general suck but ones that put you out of commission for awhile really suck. Thankfully he can get back on his bike in a week and fully healed in another 4 weeks or so. It will be interesting to see how it affects his role in the Tour de France in July. Knowing him and what he has accomplished, it probably wont matter much. He’s still going to crush it.
I saw a sweet bike paint job of Lance’s bike in a design blog. Not everyday you see really cool paint jobs. I’ve got a couple project bikes that I need to work on and it would be neat to do a custom paint scheme. Makes it unique and personal.
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