Where to begin? Lets start with my recent prep for IM France with racing (at least that was the plan) St. Croix 70.3. It is a chore to get to this race and can be expensive, but it is quite the legendary course, so you have to give it a try. All things were going well on my arrival: bike arrived in one piece, settled into my awesome homestay, preview the Beast and the bike course, both by car and by bike. Weather was hot and humid, as expected, but nice. What a beautiful area!
The night before the race brought a deluge of rain. And rain. And rain. Each passing minute I heard it continue, I felt badly for the crews that were out earlier in the day cleaning the gravel from the roads.
Race morning comes and as we drive to the start, we see the washouts from the storm. It wasn't good. I saw folks trying to ride their bikes to the start and crashing in the several-inch-thick muck of mud, gravel and chunky angular rock. Not what you want to see along a course you're about to race on. We get to the race site, inform staff of the conditions, and Jon offered to shovel a path through the mess, but to no avail.
Off we go on the swim, and with a bonehead move on my part in swimming past a turn buoy, my swim was less than stellar. This is no shocker to me, so on we go to the bike, arguably what I was most excited to tackle.
About 7-8 miles in and after grinding through and dodging the same debris we saw driving in, I flat from nicking a sharp piece of rock in a section of road that was washed out. Already knowing I was pretty far back from the lead girls because of my swim, I was less than pleased. I barely fixed the large gash in the tire, got back on my way, and 1/2 mile up the road, POW! There it went again. I carry enough to fix at least 2 flats, but there was no fixing this one. Counting the tire that was ruined from riding the course the day before, I blew through 3 tires in less than a day. Race over. Start walking. Get lucky and throw the bike in the back of a local's truck and try to avoid swearing out loud while I'm driven back to transition.
On the way back I see the absolute carnage of flats happening and see even more disappointed racers back in transition. Not exactly what any of us were hoping for in this destination race, and knowing I needed a good race effort before heading to IM France, I immediately start looking for another half to do in the next week or so and try to figure out the cheapest way to get there. 70.3 Florida, here I come!
Before I segway to that, I will say that the St. Croix race is one that I would actually like to do one day. But, at this point I would classify it as a high risk race because of the time and cost to get there and the likelihood that weather could be a factor. If you do it, make a vacation out of it and don't just go for the race itself. That way if disaster strikes during the race, at least you're there on vacation!
The night before the race brought a deluge of rain. And rain. And rain. Each passing minute I heard it continue, I felt badly for the crews that were out earlier in the day cleaning the gravel from the roads.
Race morning comes and as we drive to the start, we see the washouts from the storm. It wasn't good. I saw folks trying to ride their bikes to the start and crashing in the several-inch-thick muck of mud, gravel and chunky angular rock. Not what you want to see along a course you're about to race on. We get to the race site, inform staff of the conditions, and Jon offered to shovel a path through the mess, but to no avail.
Off we go on the swim, and with a bonehead move on my part in swimming past a turn buoy, my swim was less than stellar. This is no shocker to me, so on we go to the bike, arguably what I was most excited to tackle.
About 7-8 miles in and after grinding through and dodging the same debris we saw driving in, I flat from nicking a sharp piece of rock in a section of road that was washed out. Already knowing I was pretty far back from the lead girls because of my swim, I was less than pleased. I barely fixed the large gash in the tire, got back on my way, and 1/2 mile up the road, POW! There it went again. I carry enough to fix at least 2 flats, but there was no fixing this one. Counting the tire that was ruined from riding the course the day before, I blew through 3 tires in less than a day. Race over. Start walking. Get lucky and throw the bike in the back of a local's truck and try to avoid swearing out loud while I'm driven back to transition.
On the way back I see the absolute carnage of flats happening and see even more disappointed racers back in transition. Not exactly what any of us were hoping for in this destination race, and knowing I needed a good race effort before heading to IM France, I immediately start looking for another half to do in the next week or so and try to figure out the cheapest way to get there. 70.3 Florida, here I come!
Before I segway to that, I will say that the St. Croix race is one that I would actually like to do one day. But, at this point I would classify it as a high risk race because of the time and cost to get there and the likelihood that weather could be a factor. If you do it, make a vacation out of it and don't just go for the race itself. That way if disaster strikes during the race, at least you're there on vacation!
70.3 Florida: this report will be as short as my experience with the whole thing.
Mail bike to Florida earlier in the week to try to save some money from the airlines ripping us off to fly bikes. Work all day Friday until red eye flight leaves for Orlando. Arrive Orlando at 6am Saturday. Find race site. Run. Find bike shop. Put bike together. Ride. Register. Pro meeting. Eat. Bed. Race. Have a great bike/run split that gets me into 5th. Pack bike. Awards. Fly home. Get up and to work first thing Monday morning.
Mail bike to Florida earlier in the week to try to save some money from the airlines ripping us off to fly bikes. Work all day Friday until red eye flight leaves for Orlando. Arrive Orlando at 6am Saturday. Find race site. Run. Find bike shop. Put bike together. Ride. Register. Pro meeting. Eat. Bed. Race. Have a great bike/run split that gets me into 5th. Pack bike. Awards. Fly home. Get up and to work first thing Monday morning.
There you have it. I enjoyed this race and the course. Well run and organized; apparently folks thought it was hot during the race, but don't ask me, I live in Tucson. If you can't fry an egg on the pavement, it ain't hot! :)
Next up, Part Deux. Wedding vows and IM France. Stay tuned...
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