Triathlons and Training Rides, Oh My!

This weekend, I raced the Mighty Mite Triathlon with, Cat, a friend of mine. Here we are, before the race, showing our most intimidating, game face. Incidentally, my "game face" very much resembles "straining to poop and scratching myself." What? Isn't that everyone's "game face?"



I wasn't too keen on a point to point triathlon (there were multiple transition areas; you raced from one point, to the next, etc.), nor was I too keen on driving an hour for such a short race. However, I'd heard that the race was a lot of fun, so I thought, why not give it a go. If it's not my cup of tea, I don't have to do it again.

We arrived at the triathlon with plenty of time to spare; set up the second transition area, then went to set up the first transition area. We were told to park our cars in the grass at the bottom of a hill. Me, being the super smart girl I am, decided to leave my flip flops in my car, so I wouldn't have to go back to the transition area at all, after the race ended. As we were following people to the transition area, I asked, "does anyone know where the transition area is?" To which, a girl replied, "it's about a mile away." A mile away? What. The. Crap? Soooo...we walked a mile, uphill, barefoot. Well, at least we had an adequate warm up.

The race was short and sweet. They even had shuttles, near the finish line, to take racers back to the transition areas so that they could gather their belongings. Great, right? Well, in theory. It's not so great when your shuttle driver gets lost. Needless to say, the triathlon took entirely too much of my day to be such a short race. I can't wait to do it again next year. I kid, of course.

Sunday, I had a training ride for the Bluff City Blues Century ride this fall. My plan was to take it easy, since I had a triathlon the day before. There was one major problem with this plan:

1) When it comes to things that I really, really enjoy (cycling), taking it easy does not compute.

Anyway, the "plan" didn't go so well. I decided to grit my teeth and ride with the faster group. They were really nice to let me draft behind them, without sharing much of the workload. It was the fastest 61.5 miles I've ever ridden. Afterward, though, my legs were really mad at me.

Here's our voluntary "ride guide" and a couple of others at the second SAG (service and gear) stop.



Our bikes were magic. They took us back in time. Do you recognize this relic? No? Don't worry, I'll tell you. It's a pay phone. There was a time, before the age of cell (mobile) phones, when people used to use these.