Did my first race of the year this weekend, a small race with local competitors, nevertheless it sometimes draws some very fast people. Some things I noticed: The water is really cold in May. High 50s - low 60s probably. I still feel a little bit of panic the first few hundreds yards of the swim, but fortunately it went away quickly. 35-39 and 40-44 age groups for women are very competitive. It seems that some guys don’t like to get passed by girls on the bike. They’ll waste themselves trying to pass you back, then slow down forcing you to pass them again. Get over yourselves. Even at a small local race like this one, there is some major equipment there. Litespeeds, Kestrels, Cervelos and Elites galore. A few years ago there were a lot more mountain bikes and seemingly casual competitors. It feels good to pass people on expensive bikes. People are much friendlier after the race is over. It feels great to be out there competing regardless of where I place. There’s always something that I can do better next time!
The guys that let you pass just want to look at your butt. Otherwise we never let women pass.
Two rules I live by:
-
You can have a great result but you never have a perfect race.
-
Know that when you’re suffering, chances are that your competition are as well.
What race was it? You’re from PA, right?
Andy
Well, that’s why I let them pass me in the first place - so I could check them out. 
Which leads me to another observation. There are a lot of fit people out there, but appearance sometimes doesn’t have anything to do with how well you do in a race. That’s especially true in road races but also for triathlons.