I got to Huntsville around 7:30. Lots of time. I found a few of the guys right away. Gord (who turns a bit older today, happy birthday Gord!) was looking pretty calm and ready.
I ran into Phil and Sherrie also. Caught Tim half dressed. Everyone seemed pretty relaxed.
This is a major race in the tri world, pros come into to play here. I was hanging at the exit of the swim to see all 3 Keen boys come in. Peter was just ahead of his older brother Alex with Brent about 3 minutes behind those 2. From there I figured it was time to get my ride in. I saw Brent and rode with him for a bit. then hung out at the first turn around points. I saw Phil come through. This guy always smiles and puts on a show when there is a camera around. Oh ya he is fast also!!!
Tim was about 5 minutes behind Phil. Now one thing I have noticed is that triathelites suck at bike handling. At the turnaround I saw so many riders unclip to go around the pilon. Thats not the worst of it. It was a left turn and they were unclipping their right foot. Yep you know what was going to happen. I was waiting also. It happened to a woman, her front wheel wandered off the pavement and thats all it took. On the ground. I helped her get her CLIPPED in foot out and made sure she was ok. A couple new scratches on her leg. She did smile when I told her scares are sexy. I will say one thing, there are some really hot women racing in these events. I almost want to change focus. Almost From there the next little sprint for me was about 7 km. I tried to mix up my ride with some base stuff and a couple hard effort.
I back tracked on the road course to meet up with the crew in different spots. Its a pretty hill course with some crap pavement. Hey it felt like home. The tail end of Brittania road had some pretty serious hills. Not really long but steep. This is definatly a course that strong technical riders have an advantage on, no gear mashers here. Caught up with Alex and rode the last big hill with him. He was looking really strong and was smoking up the hills. The next came Brent. He was having a great ride as he caught Peter on the course and put some time in on him. I rode a few k's with him. I learned that your not allowed to ride close to other riders. I can understand the concerns with this, I knew about the drafting rules etc and stayed as far away from al the riders I could. Since I've been training with him I kinda wanted to cheer him on. He's kinda like the little brother I didn't have. I just don't beat the crap out of him.
From here I hung out at the bike/run transition and got a chance to see everyone from the club come through.
With most of the club out on the run course it was time to spin some more and get some pictures. 15 km run after a tough 55 km ride, makes them work. I used this seciton as a high cadence excercise. Still had to mix in my own training.
Sherrie heading out on the run
Alex coming in to a 4th in age group and 70th overall
Phil still smiling, This man never lets you know if he's hurting
Nicole looking strong preping for an Ironman
The birthday boy Gord
Carol coming into to the finish
Graham finishing with high 5's
Some of the Midland Tri Club
So all in told the club did really well. Alex was 4th in his age group. Brent was 2nd and Peter 3rd in their age groups. Tim was just off his planned pace but has been focusing on a major endurance bike race. He is trying to qualify for Ironman Canada. Gord did great minus his bike computer. Should have went faster with less weight!!! Nicole and Sherrie finsihed strong along with Phil, Cindy, Carol and Graham. It was a cool event to hangout at. I ended up at just under 3 hours on the bike which made me happy. Its been an interesting weekend as I sit here and type this. Lets hope that the race next weekend is a bit less eventful. Well unless it means a podium finish.
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