Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.H2OChick
09-19-05, 01:12 AM
If you read chrisesposito's post already, you may have surmised that I did the same tri as he did today. So here's the real meat of the post - a happy BF occasion!
We're relocating to the Seattle area (from beautiful North County San Diego) and Chris' hometown is one that we were researching as an option. So I PM'd him one day with questions about Issaquah. He was lovely and gracious and oh-so-helpful and kept in touch as my husband went through the lengthy interviewing process. So when we decided to accept the job and planned a house-hunting trip, Chris told me the Kirkland Triathlon was the same weekend and that I should do it! I think he was actually joking, but I took him seriously and signed up for it. Chris arranged for me to borrow his friend's bike. So we got to meet the day before the race and got to hang out before and after! So that is the happy Bike Forums event - that two tri-forum members got to pal around and actually do a race! On that note, many thanks to Chris for all the generosity. You rock.
Now here's the race recap, with commentary.
So I did the usual no-wetsuit-thing. It was me and about a dozen other brave/foolish souls. But the lake was actually quite nice at about 70. And it's FRESH water! And there's no surf! And no currents! It was great! But it was still only 50-something outside and I was butt-cold. So I felt like crap for about the first 2/3 of it, and I was pretty dang slow. Did I mention there was a full moon over Lake Washington? It was beautiful.
My transition makes it look like I stopped at the corner Starbucks (and yes, they're on pretty much every corner). It was laughably slow - but I was in the farthest darn corner, and I did stop to put on about 3 layers of clothes... Anyway, the bike. Ah, the bike. Well, the bike Chris' friend loaned me was a big beautiful beast of a Bianchi. It's more than half my age and about half my weight (seriously.) It had a rear fender and a headlight, and shifters in the end of the handlebars, but they weren't aerobars. I bet it's a GREAT touring bike! The course was hilly, so you can do the math. But it was fun, and it was only 12 miles, and I didn't have to haul my bike up here, so that's even better! (Thanks again, Chris!)
The run felt good, and it was definitely shorter than 5K, because I certainly wasn't running 7:45 miles! About halfway through, my feet defrosted and I could feel them tingling. (Y'know when you're skiing and your toes go numb? Yeah, that...) The sun came out, too.
All in all, it was a great experience. I learned that people in the Northwest are just like the people at home, but fewer shave their legs (men, I mean.) I learned that lake swimming is fun, that Washington is cold, also that I LOVE my bike even more than before, and that Bike Forums is chock full of wonderful, helpful people.
The stats: My time was 1:33:18. I was 21st out of 62 in my age group.
13:38 for the swim (1/2 mile)
4:30 for T1
48:46 for the bike (12 miles)
2:19 for T2
24:05 for the run (5K, but not really...)
We're relocating to the Seattle area (from beautiful North County San Diego) and Chris' hometown is one that we were researching as an option. So I PM'd him one day with questions about Issaquah. He was lovely and gracious and oh-so-helpful and kept in touch as my husband went through the lengthy interviewing process. So when we decided to accept the job and planned a house-hunting trip, Chris told me the Kirkland Triathlon was the same weekend and that I should do it! I think he was actually joking, but I took him seriously and signed up for it. Chris arranged for me to borrow his friend's bike. So we got to meet the day before the race and got to hang out before and after! So that is the happy Bike Forums event - that two tri-forum members got to pal around and actually do a race! On that note, many thanks to Chris for all the generosity. You rock.
Now here's the race recap, with commentary.
So I did the usual no-wetsuit-thing. It was me and about a dozen other brave/foolish souls. But the lake was actually quite nice at about 70. And it's FRESH water! And there's no surf! And no currents! It was great! But it was still only 50-something outside and I was butt-cold. So I felt like crap for about the first 2/3 of it, and I was pretty dang slow. Did I mention there was a full moon over Lake Washington? It was beautiful.
My transition makes it look like I stopped at the corner Starbucks (and yes, they're on pretty much every corner). It was laughably slow - but I was in the farthest darn corner, and I did stop to put on about 3 layers of clothes... Anyway, the bike. Ah, the bike. Well, the bike Chris' friend loaned me was a big beautiful beast of a Bianchi. It's more than half my age and about half my weight (seriously.) It had a rear fender and a headlight, and shifters in the end of the handlebars, but they weren't aerobars. I bet it's a GREAT touring bike! The course was hilly, so you can do the math. But it was fun, and it was only 12 miles, and I didn't have to haul my bike up here, so that's even better! (Thanks again, Chris!)
The run felt good, and it was definitely shorter than 5K, because I certainly wasn't running 7:45 miles! About halfway through, my feet defrosted and I could feel them tingling. (Y'know when you're skiing and your toes go numb? Yeah, that...) The sun came out, too.
All in all, it was a great experience. I learned that people in the Northwest are just like the people at home, but fewer shave their legs (men, I mean.) I learned that lake swimming is fun, that Washington is cold, also that I LOVE my bike even more than before, and that Bike Forums is chock full of wonderful, helpful people.
The stats: My time was 1:33:18. I was 21st out of 62 in my age group.
13:38 for the swim (1/2 mile)
4:30 for T1
48:46 for the bike (12 miles)
2:19 for T2
24:05 for the run (5K, but not really...)