The nice thing about being last out of the water in a small triathlon is that the bike course was pretty uncrowded. There was no one behind me until some of the Olympic distance triathletes (who started their race earlier) started doing their second loop.
I may have been 143 out of 143 exiting the water, but by the time I finished the bike I was 106/143. I’m not sure that’s a testament to how good I am on the bike so much as how bad I am at the swim 🙂
It felt good to make up some time on the bike. I was racing myself, not the people I passed, but when you’re out on the course and you’re so far behind people that you can’t see any other race participants, it’s not as much fun. I liked getting past some people on the bike and feeling like I was part of the race again. It also made me feel like I wasn’t as far out of my league as I felt exiting the water.
I was really nervous about the biking portion, because I was so afraid that it would be a packed course and I would get in the way of other participants, or not feel comfortable passing if I needed to.
Luckily, it was a nice small race and getting out of the water last meant I had plenty of room on the initial part of the bike course. I passed over 20 people, but I felt like it was pretty easy to check over my shoulder before pulling left, call out “on your left!” and then pull ahead and tuck back to the right.
Some things I learned:
Gears: It makes a huge difference if you can get comfortable switching gears and figuring out where you should be. Going into the race, I was pretty good at putting it into an easier gear for hills, but not as good at switching into a more difficult gear going downhill or when it’s flat. There were some STEEP hills on this course. I hit over 30 miles an hour going down one of the hills. If you’re not in the hardest gear at that point, if you turn your pedals they are so loose that you feel completely out of control. You can also feel like you’re cranking the pedals and not getting anywhere on a flat stretch if you’re not in a low enough gear, which is frustrating.
Learning your gears and experimenting with your gears isn’t just about going faster it’s about feeling more in control. I remember thinking it wasn’t a huge deal if I didn’t figure gears out right away because I wasn’t going for speed my first time around, but being in the right gear has a huge impact on your experience while you’re biking.
Water bottle: I used a metal water bottle, and it was hard to get water out because you can’t squeeze it. Fine on my training rides when I can take my time, not as good during a race. Find a water bottle that’s easy to get in and out of your holder, has good water flow, and practice with it.
Corners: Practice taking turns and corners and stopping at the bottom of hills etc. I tend to ride long, straight stretches and stop rather than taking a sharp corner… which is great because I’ve never wiped out on my bike, but not great because you can’t unexpectedly stop or slow down way too much on a race course with people behind you. You’ve got to have experience taking corners and braking down hills etc. I play it a little too safe when I ride my bike training, which isn’t ideal come race day.
Passing: Not as hard (at least on this relatively uncrowded course) as I thought. Check over shoulder, pull left, call out to the person you’re passing, check shoulder to make sure they’re far enough behind you (3 bike lengths), tuck back to the right. There were places with enough traffic so it wasn’t safe to pass, and I did get caught for a few minutes going slower than I would have… but that’s part of the race. That’s why you try to swim straight and get out of the water sooner 😉
My funniest moment:
I was flying down a hill, trying to be mindful of how amazing the moment was. That I’d just swum my first open water course, that I was on the bike and feeling good, that I’d just passed over 10 people and was not going to be last to finish, that it was a beautiful day and I was coasting down a gorgeous Maine road….
I felt pretty fantastic.
Well there was no one in sight so I started yelling “WHEEEE!!! I’M A TRIATHLETE!!! I’M KING OF THE WORLD!!!!!” …and then a woman doing her second loop of the Olympic distance whizzed by me doing probably 35 miles an hour. Awesome.
My second funniest moment:
I went the wrong way around a corner on the bike course and the police had to flag me back while traffic waited and send me the right way. Yet another reason I was very relieved to pass some people and be closer to the pack so I could follow people!
My third funniest moment:
There was a corner after a moderate hill and I thought I was taking it slow and wide enough but ended up going a LITTLE wider than I thought and almost hit two police officers who were both texting on their phones. I was like “uh oh, uh oh” going into the turn past the flagger, who then screamed “WOOHOO!!! You made it!” after I managed not to mow them down.
Next up… the run. That’s a post for another day 🙂
Nice making up some time after being last out of the water! Way to go not mowing anyone down!