Well, I completed my first triathlon of the season on Saturday.  It was a sprint triathlon (800meters / 17 miles / 3.1 miles), and it was my first open water swim tri.  The days leading up to the event had the water temps right around 77*, so it was going to be iffy as to whether it was going to be wet-suit legal or not.  The weather the morning of the race was cloudy with a big storm just to the North East of us….we did get a bit of the rain.  The start was delayed a few minutes because of the weather.  As we were waiting, we hear the announcement we’ve been waiting for….the official USAT water temp.  It’s announced that the water temp was 76.4*…yeaa!! 

 

Finally, they tell us we are good to go and head down to the water for practice swim time & final announcements.  I make a quick practice swim (this was only my second time swimming in a wet-suit) and felt good.  The final announcements are made and our wave lines up behind the buoys….GO!!  I am off, but I hold back just a bit to get behind the throng of bodies.  I stay behind the mass the entire swim portion, and pass maybe a couple of people.  Around the 600 meter mark, I see the first female passing me (the females started 3 minutes behind the men), but that’s okay…I stay my course.  I swim around the last buoy and make a bee-line towards the swim exit, which is about 100 meters away.  Finally, and the exit & I’m able to stand and run out of the water.  I glance and my watch and it reads 17:45…WOW (as I was planning around 20 – 22 minutes).  I then start the run/walk UP about 100 yards to transition. 

 

I am in transition for what seems to be forever, but finally changed and ready to roll.  I exit the transition & hop on the bike.  The entire bike course was made up of rolling hills….we were pretty much either going up, or going down.  I felt really strong on the bike course though, as I’ve been practicing on tons of hills.  I pass the mile 15 mark and WHAM, my bike stops & I can’t pedal.  I look down and my derailleur had busted off and jammed into spokes.  It’s all jacked-up…no way I can continue riding.  I knew at this point it was only two miles to go, so I through the bike over my shoulders and hoof it.  These last two miles were ups & downs (mostly up though), but DNF was not an option (DFL before DNF).  A couple of sag trucks ask if I want a ride and I decline.  Finally, I hear the music and I know that transition is near.  I get into the transition area and change for the run.

 

The run portion is well shaded, but hilly as well.  At this point though, I was only running half-heartedly (as a lot of the wind was out of my sails)….I was just running to finish at this point.  And finish I did!!!  My final time was 2:29:32 and finished 62 out of 68…not bad and didn’t even get a DFL.

 

Splits:

 

800 meter swim - 17:50

T1 – 4:26 (need some practice here)

Bike (15 miles) – 52:00

T2 – 2:02

Run 5K – 31:44

 

If I had biked the entire course, I might have gotten either 2^{nd or 3rd} in my age group….oh, well onto more training and the next race in July.

Way to hang tough, Paul. I would give the folks who sold you that bike a lot of hell. Just sayin'

Way to hang tough, Paul. I would give the folks who sold you that bike a lot of hell. Just sayin'

 

I will admit that after research on the internet & talking with the bike mechanics....I think most of the bike failure had to do with operator error (trying to make my own adjustments & such).

Xhristopher MacGuyver,

Wow!  I doubt that I'd have the patience or the temperment to be able to screw through a major setback like that

I'd likely have to buy a brand new bike after a situation like that, as that bike might be thrown into tree, in a river, or through the woods.

 

But, yes, people should have the ability to repair their bike should "normal" situations arise.  (I doubt I'd be able to consider that "normal" if that happened to me.

 

 

 I once got a stick in my derailleur on the road and ripped everything off, including the hanger, right into the spokes. Using the tool in my bag, I removed the broken derailleur, shortened the chain so I had a single speed, and trued the tire enough. I then wrapped broken spokes around good spokes and opened the rear brakes wide so the rim didn't rub. This set me back 10 minutes and got me home just fine, albeit wobbly in the rear.

 

MacGuyver,

Wow!  I doubt that I'd have the patience or the temperment to be able to screw through a major setback like that

I'd likely have to buy a brand new bike after a situation like that, as that bike might be thrown into tree, in a river, or through the woods.

 

If you haven't seen it, here's how Bjarne Riis handled a similar situation in the 1997 Tour. The good part is at about 50 seconds.

 

If I recall correctly, I had already lost two derailleurs mountain biking around that time so this was almost normal.

 

Jdais is right. Keeping it upright could be considered another win.

Way to tough it out,  Good news, there is most likely no way this will happen again.  If it does, you are the unluckiest triathete I know

 

There was also a story of a guy in the Ironman in HI that he was hit by a motocycle on the bike leg about 7 miles from the finish and he carried his bike to the end of the bike leg, then did the marathon.  You have joined a long list of tough guys!