Race Report - Iron Girl

Sunday was a terrific day to race a triathlon.  The weather was warm, but not stifling.  The water was cool and flat.  This was Lake Ontario, which can be frigid cold even in August, and have plenty of choppy waves.  The recent weather has had so many stormy days that there could have been an overnight storm to leave it that way.  

No more bagels!

A sticker here. a sticker there. 

We were out the door at 5 am, in the bright darkness of the full moon.  We saw a meteor ahead of us on the highway.  It's the peak of the Perseid shower.  I wasn't racing, so it was Jen's pick for what to stop for on the way.  No bagels!  

Swim time

Swim start

Amongst the first to arrive, she set up the bike in the nearly empty corral, went through registration, then back to the bike to put on the stickers.  Shopping time!  There was an expo on site.  I bought combo shorts.  I have plenty of bike shorts, but have been wanting tri shorts, because I don't really like the feel of my one-piece kit.  I want to race in my bike shirt.  I got some cheap sunglasses from D'Ornella's booth.  I drove to Toronto 10 years ago to get my trainer, since they are the local Kurt vendor.  It's the trainer which I wore the bearings out. That was a year ago. I called Kurt to ask about replacement parts, and they shipped me a whole new unit gratis.  Hurray for lifetime warranty.  Good to see D-Ornellas is still in business.  Two places where I bought new bikes over the last few years have gone under (All Seasons Sports; Multisport Zone).  Pedal Power in Woodstock is keeping them running great, in spite of the harsh treatment I give them.  They tuned Jen's Bianchi for this day's race.  Oh, and Sport Luub.  He said it's wetsuit friendly.  We're almost out of the Body Glide teflon lube that we've been using.

Not a sport for shy people

The drink matches the bike!

Saddle up 

They bused us to the water start. It was only a couple blocks.  Jen squeezed into her wetsuit.  It's overkill for the 15 minutes in the water on such a nice day, but the race is prep for Barrelman where she will have to use it.  Off they went at 9 am.  I jogged back to transition to wait for them.  First girl out sure had a great swim, but spent ages changing clothes while others came and went.  Likewise, Jen had lots to do in transition.  This was her first wetsuit race.  The last time she raced was here in Grimsby, many years ago, and her bike shoes weren't there when she got out of the water.  They turned up later, but she rode the tri-a-tri in her running shoes.  

Let's go

I sauntered back to the car and read a magazine.  Analog.  A David Brin story about how what if vertibrate animals didn't give up the caterpillar stage of insects, they gave up the butterfly stage. Suppose we can engage the transition?  After 40 minutes, I went to the road to wait, and there she was already.  I figured for closer to an hour on the bike.  It was an easy flat out-and-back using the service road by the expressway.  I just made it to transition in time to see her take off on the run course.  A few of us waiting on someone's lawn for our girls to get back.  Jen was an hour 42 altogether.  Way faster than expected.  That's good news except for the swim.  It was clocked at 18 minutes for the 500 m.  That's not going to cut it at Barrelman.  They give an hour 10 for the 1.9 km.  Have to keep moving through the water.

Yes, you wear the medal all day