Sto, on race morning I looked up and saw a bit of wind. I was thinking...OK, I am still ~ 5 lbs over race weight, so my hill climbing performance will be down, so let it blow. The harder the wind came, the more I was enjoying it. Going to the summit of nasty grade, I was thinking...OK, this is nasty, but that wind is harsh, but I was passing people, so what the heck. But starting from the old man 40-44 wave and passing ~1000 people over the course of the race, white kuckling it to the bottom of hills in front of me was hairy.
PLEASE EVERYONE WHO IS SCARED OF DESCENDING IN CROSS WINDS READ THIS When it is windy and you are going down a steep hill with cross winds..DO NOT SIT UP...DO NOT SLAM your BRAKES. Get low so your centre of gravity is close the ground and get small so you don't get blown off the road. This is the way to descend in hills. Don't believe it, then try it...you'll be amazed how stable you will be with your head down between the aero pads, outside leg pushing pedal hard into the ground, hands on cowhorns countersteering my pushing the inside hand (the hand opposite to the leg that is down). Finally point your belly button at where you want to go, don't look at the object that you are about to crash into....think about the slalom skier setting himself up to hit the next gate as he comes out of this gate.
I'm a 145 lbs guy riding a HED Stinger 60 front and a trispoke in the back and I was fine...most of you who are bigger have no excuse
OK so much for my rant. I'm not sure where people are from that were complaining about the heat on Saturday... but you have to be kidding. Those temps were not hot at all....there was wind and frankly by the end of the run I was suffering and wishing the wind would die (I guess I got a dosage of what I was hoping for). My time of 4:56 was 13 minutes slower than my time here in 1996. Funny enough, in both years I finished 53rd overall...back in 1996 I got 8th in my age group...11 years later, 7th...so it seems that there are just as many fast guys around. Frankly though, I found the race to be much tougher than the Half Ironman in St. Croix last year, where I went 4:54. Wildflower has a way tougher bike and run course. St. Croix just has more heat, but I am OK with performing in heat (even though my last ride at home was 90K in 3 degree Celsius).
For those saying that the swim was slow, I am glad you felt it was this way. I thought I improved my swim (thanks Ksweet and Tigerchik for the swim challenges on ST), and was expecting to see a sub 29 min time (and maybe sub 28) when I came out of the water around top 10 in my age group, but was surprised when I hit the mat in 31:29....well at least my transitions were 1:04 and 1:19...free speed :-).
Anyway, yes the conditions were tough, but when I do a race like St. Croix or Wildflower early in the year, this is what I expect...after posting a slow season opening time, I can feel good about doing faster times later in the year.
I'm already looking forward to the Demi Esprit on the Formula 1 track in Montreal in September (
www.esprittriathlon.com) . If you guys want a fast course, this is the place to go. I posted my PB there last year at the age of 40 :-). Aparently Desertdude will be heading over to hammer me soundly and go sub 4:05 :-).
