I’m wondering if there will be any STers at the Yorktown, VA sprint this Sunday? I’ll be participating in (notice, I didn’t say competing 
in my first tri… I’m thinking it will be more like “drown, crash, collapse” rather than “swim, bike, run”. If I survive, then maybe I won’t feel like such an impostor here
Anybody? 
I’ll be there. Not racing, working. If you have any questions ask anyone you see with a setup shirt on.
Glenn Cook
I’ll be racing. I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve heard it’s a nice course.
Thanks! Unfortunately, I am unable to be there in time Saturday for the Beginners Transition Clinic Q&A, so I’m glad to know it will be easy to have questions answered. I should be easy to pick out… I’ll be the 30-something year old woman with the electric blue Trek 1600 and a look of sheer panic on her face… and that’ll just be in setting up my transition area
I hope its a beautiful day! See you there!
Good luck! I hope you have an awesome race!
You too. Finishing your first tri is the best feeling. Keep an eye out for a silver Cervelo with HED3’s and a goofy looking college kid. That’s me.
How was your race? I tried, but was unable to indentify you.
Hi! Just wanted to say “thank-you” for a great first tri! All y’all did a phenomenal job with the event. I had a great race and am definately hooked! Hope to see you at future events!
Hey any word on all the drafting on the bike course? It seemed like there was a lot out there. Also I was really disapointed with the way the bike course was marked. They had an arrow pointing to the right for the run course. The arrow also just so happend to point in the direction where the bike course went last year. I saw the 20 people in front of me go that way so I figured that those 20 people weren’t going the wrong way. Either way I thought it was a great race. The course was a lot of fun and very scenic. Thanks for your help. Just curious to know your thoughts on the drafting and the marking of the course.
-Joe
I talked with a buddy who was a part of that 10-12 person group of bikers - but he wasn’t penalized 2 minutes for drafting.
He said he certainly wasn’t trying to draft and tried 3 times to leave them behind but the “peloton” kept catching him.
He thought it was primarily a conincidence of bikers at exactly the same level and they were normally 2-3 abreast. He said no one was good enough to leave the group and no one wanted to lose the time it would take to put the group well ahead.
He eventually made sure to drop out of aero position and sag back to avoid any appearance of drafting.
I’m not sure if it was the same group but there was a group of 10-12 guys behind me while I was on Crawford (although they didn’t catch me). That’s interesting that they didn’t get penalized. I heard from a few people who said they had someone drop in behind them at one point or another during the bike. It’s the first race I’ve done where drafting was so prevalent. I’m not sure how beneficial it is though on a 12 mile course.
My friend said he thought about 1/2 of them WERE penalized. He said a race official on back of motorcycle was tracking and clearly writing down numbers. One reason he decided to give up passing the group and just sag back.
Well, I was too far toward the end of the pack to notice any drafting, so I can’t really comment there. I can say that there were a few times where bikers in my line of vision were close behind each other while waiting for a car to safely pass before they passed the biker in front of them.
As for the course markings, I agree. If the police officers had not been at most of the major interesections, I would not have known which was to go. As it is, the only reason I’m pretty certain I stayed on course is I ended up where I was suppose to and I have never been there before. I figure if I had strayed, I’d be in Charlottesville by now I had intended to carry a course map with me and realized after I was on my way that I had left in behind.
The course was certainly very scenic. This being my first, I have a question… how did the openwater swim compare to others you have done? I was pleasantly surprised, came out of the water over 5 minutes faster than I thought I would. What are your thoughts?
I also got out of the water a minute or two faster than I had expected with how choppy the water was. I think if you did well under those conditions you should be fine for most others. I think the key is not losing your breath in the first hundred meters. If you can master that and keep your breathing under control for the rest of the swim you’ll be good.
I always make it a point to drive the course the night before the race especially if I’ve never been there before. I did that this past weekend and just figured that all of those people can’t be going the wrong way (even though the little voice in my head said not to follow). THe biggest problem I think was that there was a sign there for the runners, and it was in no way identified as a turn for the runners. So we had no way of knowing if it was for the bike course.
I don’t like to complain about stuff but I was a little upset because I could’ve placed significantly better with the 2-3 min wasted on the wrong turn. Either way it was a fun race. I think you picked a good one for your first tri. If you have any questions feel free to pm me.
-Joe