2012 Peachtree City Sprint Tri

The Peachtree City Sprint Triathlon is in the books.  My buddy Carlos and I rode together to Drake Field early on Saturday morning.  We arrived around 5:15am just as some of the volunteers were preparing for the day.  I was unable to get my race packet on Friday so I hurried to the dark registration tent to check-in while Carlos saw the body marking folks.  As one would expect, we were setup in transition shortly after 5:45am giving us plenty of time to meet with other racers.  Southern Crescent Cycling (SCC) had seven participants in the race.  All of us were seasoned racers with at least one race under our belts.

Carlos

Me

Carlos and I lined up with friends at the swim start about mid-pack.  The time trial start is a welcome change from the alternative.  I don't know why all triathlons aren't done this way.  Carlos and I teamed up and entered the water together.  The swim segment went well for me.  My inefficient swimming abilities didn't seem to matter much in the short 0.3 mile distance.  I was out of the water in 9:30 minutes.

I entered transition quickly running to my bike which was located mid-rack in the transition area.  I had decided to race without my Garmin watch and heart rate monitor.  I'd also decided to use my Bontrager Aero pack in lieu of water bottles on the wing behind my seat.  I also decided to use a rubber band and mount my bike shoes on my pedals.  This would make getting out of T-1 much quicker.  After putting on socks, I hadn't trained without them, my race belt, and helmet, I ran toward the mounting line with my bike.  I reach the mounting line and hopped on my bike.  The rubber band popped off, my socks stuck to the velcro on the top of one of my bike shoes and the other bike shoe flopped upside down and scraped across the asphalt.  I had stalled!  I tried again but my forward movement was impeded by the slight incline of the parking lot and my shoes were still giving me fits.  As one might expect, I did the only thing I could do at the time.  I let slip a short burst of colorful language.  That was followed by a swift apology to the mother on the other side of the barrier fence who had swiftly moved to cover her son's ears.  Not my proudest moment!  I was finally off on the bike segment of the race dodging the traffic bumps in the parking lot through the no pass zone and onto the 14 mile course.

A few miles into the bike course Carlos pulled up beside me.  I guess it was a pass but it didn't last very long.  I tucked in a bit tighter and was able to pull ahead of Carlos by a few second before entering T-2.  The bike segment was done in 35:10 minutes.

I was in and out of T-2 quickly.  I decided to run without a visor or sunglasses so all I needed to do was put on my shoes and head for the exit chute.  A volunteer pointed the way out of the transition area onto the 3.1 mile run course.

The run segment of the race went well.  It's the segment that I like the best.  Racers had spread out on the course so passing wasn't an issue on the narrow cart paths.  I was done with the run segment in 21:43 minutes.

I hit the finish line with an overall time of 1:08:39 placing 2nd in the over 50 Grand Master division finishing 39th overall having been "chicked" twice.

2nd Men's Grand Master Award

Before and after the race I took a few pictures.  I also created a few charts of the results for the 600 or so male participants.  The red dots in the charts below represent the 5 male SCC racers that competed.

Male Swim Time to Overall Finish Placement

Male Bike Segment to Overall Finish Placement

Male Run Segment to Overall Finish Placement

Overall, the race was very well done and the weather was perfect.  It's no wonder why the race is so well attended.

Thanks for reading.

2012 TTP Indian Springs Sprint Tri

I could call this my "What I learned when I got schooled today" blog because that's what I feels like after coming in 4th when I know I had a 3rd place in me.  To those that beat me to the finish line - Congratulations!  You won fair and square.  You either swam more efficiently, rode faster, or ran harder.  Maybe, you're not a sissy and didn't have to take a few seconds to put on socks.  That's gonna be a hard one for me to reconcile.  Lord knows I don't like blisters.

So, where do I think I can improve?  I've got to eliminate the distraction on the bike.  How am I going to do that?  I had a problem putting my water bottle back in the cage behind my seat.  I guess I've gotten used to my road bike and just haven't been on my tri-bike enough.  To resolve this problem I'll give my Bontrager Aero Pack tri-bar mounted water bottle another try.  Second, it's NO more energy gels during the bike.  I had forgotten what a sticky mess they are.  So, in the future, it's Sports Beans or ShotBlox for me.  Finally, I'm seriously re-thinking racing with my Garmin 910xt, especially since I was unable to collect any usable data from today's race.  It was all my fault and fiddling with the watch as I rode was a big distraction.  Would changing any or all of these three things have improved my bike to the point where I could have cut 1-minute plus off of the bike segment of the race?  Probably not!  Those kind of numbers will probably have to come from improving my barely adequate swim.

Anyway, it was a good race.  The weather was perfect.  The water was not cool enough to make the swim segment wetsuit legal.  The bike course was mostly long rolling hills.  It was the run course that seemed to do people in.  The course wound through the park and campground going up and down hills as we ran.

I've attached a link to a photo album which includes a few pictures taken by my wife Susan.

Thanks for reading.

2012 Indian Springs Tri

My New Garmin 910XT

My new Garmin 910XT arrived Thursday, June 14th.  I ordered it on Saturday from Atlanta Trek in McDonough.  I try to support my LBS when I can.  Most of my friends have had a Garmin of one type or another for some time.  I was a hold-out, partly because of cost, but also because of size and battery life.  I'm not a big dude so the idea of wearing a dinner plate on my wrist was not one I relished.  The limited 20 hour battery life seemed to ensure the fact that more than once I'd try to use the watch only to find the battery was dead.  I decided to suck it up after swimming with a friend who quickly reported his swim speed to our small group of Southern Crescent Cycling club triathlon team members within seconds of leaving the water.

Anyway, I bought the Garmin watch, quick release, bike mount, cadence sensor, and a Profile Design universal computer mount.  I already have an integrated speed and cadence sensor on my 2011 Trek Madone 5.2 road bike so the Garmin sensor will go on my 2010 Quintana Roo CD0.1 tri bike.



Garmin 910XT and Accessories

 It took many failed attempts with Internet Explorer to finally use Google Chrome and update the unit software to version 2.5.  The Garmin Internet Explorer update instructions should have said "Step 1, Use Google Chrome".  With the update installed and no real training activities done I mounted the watch to my bike and hoped for the best.  There are so many options to choose from that I was a bit overwhelmed.
The Jackson Brevet on Saturday, June 16th was my first attempt to use my new toy.  The Garmin Connect map is from this first use, warts and all.  You'll note the red line showing that I rode out and back at the top of the map.  That's where me and several others took a wrong turn and methodically retraced our route to eventually join up with our group.

So, hopefully I'll learn to use the darn thing and won't spend all my time on the computer and not training.

Thanks for reading.

Dinner at The Shed at Glenwood

Susan and I met some friends at The Shed at Glenwood in Atlanta on Saturday, June 2nd in the afternoon.  Susan and some of our Foodie friends, also known as the Hoochee Map Dancers because they like to try cuisine from all over the world, dine out at various Atlanta restaurants throughout the year.  We usually try someplace new every few months.  Susan and I had already eaten at The Shed several times and we recommened it to our friends.  Our last dinner was at a Persian restaurant, Sufi.  Before that was Korean, The Stone Bowl.

Susan had been in discussion with Cindy, co-owner of The Shed, and her "foodie" friends for several weeks planning a special menu for the dinner.  She had originally planned for close to a dozen people but scheduling conflicts and the like whittled our numbers down to just six.  Dudley and Valla drove in from North Carolina and Jim and Mary Ann who live near us in Jonesboro.

Hoochee Map Dancer

We met at the restaurant at 4pm.  That's early by most standards for a big dinner but it worked out well for us.  The Virginia-Highlands Summefest was underway all weekend so the restaurant wasn't busy.  We sat outside.  The weather was perfect and we really enjoyed the ability to talk without the drone of a busy late night dinner crowd.  Susan met with Cindy when we arrived as we were introduced to our server Diamond.

Mary Ann, Diamond, and Valla

Below are pictures of the courses selected for the meal.

Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese

Foie Gras Torchon with Country Bread and Pear Jam

Spring Asparagus with Panko Crusted Poached Egg and Hollandais​e

Fried Oysters

English Pea Tortelloni

Fried Maine Diver Scallop Slider with Jalapeno Slaw

Cane Marinated Duck Breast with Organic Swiss Chard

Shepherd's Pie with Beef Cheeks and Yukon Gold Mash

Wild Boar Dumplings with Kale and Grainy Mustard

Organic Blackberry Streusel with Vanilla Ice Cream

Spumone Ice Cream Sandwich

Profiterol​es with Espresso Ice Cream and Valrhona Chocolate

Bottles of Wine

I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Thanks for reading.