For those of you that were there, how’d it go? I finished in 1:02:30 as compared to the winner at around 42 minutes. Jeez.
Initial review:
Good: Nice support with people warning you when a bump was coming up on the bike course, telling you were to turn around, water stations, etc.
Saw Russ Jones kicking ass as usual, and heard a guy he was passing (while grunting) ask him if he was okay. His reply? “I’ll be okay!”. I even cheered him on.
Bad: No pizza left when I finished. I was in the 8th wave, and there were about 40 pizza boxes stacked and empty with nothing left for me and everyone else that was in my wave (except maybe the guys that finished ahead of me of course). That was one of the things that made me run faster to the finish line!
The bike course was really narrow. 1 traffic lane in each direction meant tight quarters out there, and VERY tight turn arounds. You had to constantly be vigilant of what was ahead of you. My wave’s racks were at the back corner of the transition, so we had a long way to go in both T1 and T2.
Saw some young guy (no “cream of sum yung gai” jokes!) absolutely FLYING on the run course. He must have been doing 5 minute miles.
I rode down the coast on my bike to watch the race and got there just as the 1st wave leaders were finishing lap one of the bike.
Some of my casual observations:
very tight bike course, but suprisingly there was not a lot of drafting going on. But, there was some very obvious wheel sucking going on by a few people out there. Frome where I was, just out front of B&L, we saw people go by 4 times, and there were a couple of the same guys each lap that were right up on the next guy’s wheel each time.
Saw Kenny Souza doing the sprint duathlon, the guy is back, he looked very aero and was hammering the bike. Even better was seeing Kaboom Junior out there running and riding as well in the race.
Not sure if he won overall or not, but Brendon O’Brien was the first across the line in the tri and probably won and his time was about 54 minutes. I don’t think anyone in the tri went 44 minutes.
Watching the cyclists go by, I’d say 2 out of 3 had horrendous positioning and could be considerably faster had they been positioned properly.
Saw three cyclists with their helmet on backwards.
It’s always going to be tough putting on a race on the 101, but doing it right in the middle of Solona Beach on a Sunday morning and pulling it off was a great job by the race management.
Mike, I’ve seen your name in the results of other races I’ve done. Any reason you didn’t do this one?
“Not sure if he won overall or not, but Brendon O’Brien was the first across the line in the tri and probably won and his time was about 54 minutes.”
Unless the course changed, 54 is not too quick. I did 55 last year in 45-49 and ony got fourth.
I’ll probably never do that course again. I think it is simply too dangerous. The transition has those little parking stall islands that you have to keep an eye on to not trip over and the layout is real convoluted. The bike course is really narrow and crowded - more than once did I brush shoulders - that close. Well, anyways, a challenging location to put on a race and I commend Koz for pulling it off, but it’s not for me.
Saw three cyclists with their helmet on backwards.
That’s just vintage stuff! Hope you didn’t see ME go by on my bike. My positioning is a bit more “upright” in the aeros than the average triathlete, but I still managed to average 23.5 mph for the bike.
The first triathlon wave started 10 minutes after the duathletes, so 54-10 = 44min.
a lot of reasons why I didn’t do the race. I spent most of the week in Colorado Springs and didn’t get to train much while I was there. I also did a race in Mississippi last week and now will be off from racing and just train hard till Nationals. Also since it wasn’t a sanctioned race it was less of a priority. For the distance the entry fee was a bit high for my wallet as well. But I figured if I wasn’t going to do the race I’d at least go down and cheer everyone else on.
Just saw the overall results, a 19 year old kid won the race in 45:23. Brendon was second in 45:30.
Understood. Yeah, the pizza debacle made me want some of my $ back! Ha, ha. No matter how well I do in these races, being my first season in this sport, I am humbled by the placings of others. 28th in my AG (40-44) is exactly the same place I got in my last tri (Camp Pendleton). Maybe it’s time to play the lottery with that number huh?
Jay,
keep in mind that the races around here are some of the most competitive races overall top to bottom in each age group. With just over 1000 people showing up to race for a real short race like this morning’s, what you did and are doing in your first year in the sport is pretty impressive.
Many thanks Mike. I have my first HIM at Caliman in Sept., and something tells me I’m NOT going to place 28th in that one…ha, ha. I appreciate the words of encouragement. Being a pro bodyboarder for 12 years of my life, I had the awesome honor of being in the top 5 in the world at one stage, so I can appreciate what it takes for the top guys in triathlon to do what they do. I have a long way to go to even APPROACH that in my AG, but I love having goals! Hope to meet you and some other ST’ers at a race one of these days.
Hey Jay,
I finished in 1:06 and i got pizza - there wasn’t much (2 boxes) but it seemed like they were refilling periodically.
There definitely was a lot of drafting going on - but with how tight it was, it was tough to avoid it completely… I agree with mike - with having to deal with the 101, I think they did a great job (although the race did start about 30 minutes late) - shit happens … I do wish it was sanctioned - that would have been a nice bonus - I think I still like the Carlsbad tri a bit more. Next race is Arrowhead on Aug 20. Josh puts on a good race up there every year.
Keith
Riverside
Keith, which wave were you in? I was in wave 8, and the pizza was gone, and I didn’t want to hang to see if they were going to refill. Pizza at 9:30am isn’t worth waiting for in my book.
I was considering that Lake Arrowhead event. How is it?
I was lucky and got to go in the first wave, so there was still lots of pizza there when I got back. Finished in 53:07, about 10th in my age group. Rumor had it there was a 44, but that kid did only one lap on the run course. The over all winner was a 46 or so, which seems about right. And yes, there is one kid (Zack Paris) that FLYS on the run…kicks ass in the swim too
GOOD: Had a solid race. Hammered the bike and the run. First time I have ever felt good on the run. And actually passed someone in my age group!!! SWEET. Water was perfect temp, and the weather was awesome. Nice and overcast and a bit cooler then the rest of day
BAD: Bike course was WAY to narrow. First lap was ok since I was wave 1, but lap 2 was horrid, I was slamming on the brake alot. People didn’t understand “stay to the right”. I had a shitty swim. I think I swallowed half the ocean on the way out. Live and learn I guess…next time I will not start in the middle 2 swimmers back.
One last thing that was really pissing me off, was the amount of people walking in the transition area while racers will still coming in. I have no problem with them being there and getting there stuff (hell, I did the same thing), but get the hell out of the way of the people racing!!! They should have to ask you to get out of the way while they are racing and you are walking in the the middle of the path!!! I felt bad for everyone on later waves, cause people weren’t being very courteous.
BTW…Any one else thing the swim course was short?
-bcreager
Jay,
I was in wave 6, but I’m slow and didn’t finish for 1:06, and didn’t hit the pizza for about 30-40 minutes after.
I haven’t done Arrowhead yet, but the race director is in my tri group (Inland Inferno) and I have only heard great things about the race (the bike is short like solano - but LOTS of climbing - they said don’t be fooled by the short distances up at that altitude. They say if you do this race, you’ll do it every year.
Hope to see you there. (Arrowhead is USAT sanctioned also) (for Mike)
: )
Keith
Riverside
I thought it seemed right for 1/4 mile - i think it seemed short because you could walk about half way to the first buoy because of the waves/surf.
Keith
Riverside
That may have been it, super shallow on the way out and in…lots of people stood up too soon on the way back in, I swam until I could almost hit my chest on the bottom. I need to practice those beach starts though, that killed me!!!
-bcreager
I thought the race was fun. I loved the short swim and yes, I too drank much of the Ocean. But glad it was over quickly.
I had a ball on the bike. Yeah it was narrow and you had to watch yourself when passing. I’m sure a lot of people I passed thought I was a jerk because I got pretty close to them. But I was talking to them, making sure they held their line and I was as far to the left of the lane as i could possibly be.
I know I had a solid bike. I’m looking forward to the splits being posted later in the week. BTW, did anyone clock the distance of the bike? I have a feeling it was a little long.
As for the run, it was the run as usual. I know I was passed by several guys in my age group. I did manage to pass one guy in my age group at the finish who had passed me on the run. That’s my only claim to fame in this race.
Oh yeah, Mike P, thanks for the encouragement on the run and, NO, lap one was not a cool down lap!! That’s all I had left in the engine room.
Mike
TriBody—Good race for me…despite…breaking my left foot during T1. 58:30something. 13th AG.I kicked one of those concrete barriers in the transition area on the way to the back corner of the transition area where they had us 45-49 guys. Went down hard and knew I had cracked it pretty good. Got my wetsuit off and then both my bike shoes fell off my cleats. Worst T1 I have ever had in a tri in my life. I still PR’d the race…go figure. I didn’t know there was even pizza offered. Glad I didn’t look for it. This race had grown over the years…yesterday seemed really crowded to me. X-rays later today…hoping for the best.
Mark
Mike
I had 9.2 on my bike computer. Coach Mike Plumb was encouraging me to “catch” the guy in yellow in front of me…I just couldn’t get my foot to cooperate and make my legs go get him. Thanks to Plumb for the encouragement.
Mark
had 9 and some change in my bike computer, so it was probable right on.
What was with that little off shot on the run, were they off by 50 yards or something on the course? Kind of funny, but it was perfect for my photo crew (pics to follow), they would see me turn that corner, and knew to get the cameras ready 
-bcreager