Cabbage Head Du 2007

RMTC was well represented today. Three, count ‘em three series winners in the Mile High Duathlon Series.

We’ll start with Jocelyn. Second at Barkin’ Dog and last Elite girl at Big Sky owing to her flat tire. She got it fixed and finished the race. That got her some points toward the series. Never quit. Then a big win running away today. She really felt fast with her new Zipps from nationals. Imagine how fast she’d have gone if they had been the right size and not just in the garage. Her nemesis, Sunny Gilbert, couldn’t be bothered to come race today. She had to attend a wedding. It was unclear who’s wedding it was. Anyone who would plan their wedding for a race day and demand that you come is not a real friend. She’ll probably end up divorced. Sunny should know better than to schedule her own wedding on a race day. If it was her she’s totally lost her focus. Probably taking up smoking too.

Jocelyn was wise enough to plan her wedding for the weekend following 5430 ½ last year. She was going to use that week to adjust her tan lines. That does mean she’s married and Kevin, her husband, was participating today. His first Duathlon, starting 2 minutes behind the Mrs., he nearly ran her down. He lost time churning out the 18 mile ride on his hybrid with tiny gears, but ran his heart (and lungs) out. He scored some real points by making sure to be there for her 1st win.

Put that anniversary on your calendar ‘cause you’re getting that new super duper carbon race bike with some cool Zipps underneath. It won’t be sitting next to the bed when you wake up that morning. You have to prove that you remembered. A card and some flowers should do the trick. If you keep the dishes and garbage taken care of ‘til then maybe even an aero helmet too.

Kathy Alfino won her age group today just like in the other two races. Kathy joined RMTC along with her husband, Pete last year. Her race results and the results of their triathletes they coach have improved markedly since then !’m sure. Pete got 4th in his age group. Michael was hunting him most of the last run. Just being around Charley will either make you go faster of paint your bike aqua.

And, finally, Big Al Marvin. Once again won his age group to take winners points back to the nursing home. It’s a tough bunch he’s battling with. Sparks fly as they bump back and forth with those walkers and you don’t even want to get near them on the bike when they’re squirting each other with the catheter bags. Part of the reason those guys are so fast is the straight oxygen they are breathing. Al’s upgraded to a high flow valve on his. Maybe ! wasn’t supposed to say anything about that. Oops.

Michael was parked illegally in front of my house at 6 this morning. We loaded up gear as my creepy neighbor looked on. A mix of disgust (he loathes me so) and jealousy since know one ever comes to visit him, but the UPS guy and his social worker. Neither of them are as cool as anyone in RMTC. Michael did well, pulling out 4th in his age group in his first du. He was trying to chase down Al. Just didn’t quite make it. Michael did put the hurt on Al last week in Loveland however. It was really hot out. Out on I-76 we passed a girl that Michael knew from some running events. He pulled up next to her. She looked over at me and we were a couple rednecks out drinkin’ PBRs and listenin’ to 8-tracks.

Michael managed to beat Steve Lynn who had bad karma for the pain he inflicted on me after Big Sky.! always try to whip Steve or find a good excuse. This time it was due to insufficient recovery from Roth just 13 days ago. And ! had spokes on my back wheel.

Steve Kovisto finally showed up for one of these races. You may have noticed that Darrin put his picture up on the series web site. Fourth place in his age group. A really tough age group ! might add.

Tanner made 42nd overall with solid performances in all three legs. To celebrate Jackpot day (7.7.7) he pulled off 7th Elite male and was only beaten by one of the Elite girls. That would be Jocelyn. ! don’t recall seeing Jocelyn in Roth. Maybe that’s what it was. Not even 2 weeks after the fastest Ironman of anyone in the club he’s racing all out in heat and beating nearly 200 short course racers and relay teams.

Speaking of Roth and Relay teams. Rudy rep. Craig Mintzloff and his wife Theresa came out to play today. Both of them did Roth. Craig planned carefully for today. All his gear ready to go. Well hydrated and on time. He unloaded his bike and found, well didn’t find, pedals. Quickly recalibrating their plans they formed a relay team for a fourth place finish out of 9 teams. They probably would have made 1st or 2nd had they been RMTCers. Still they are a ray of hope for all those who can’t quite make it to our club.

RMTC was mostly 1st or 4th on the day. That’s kind of dull so ! went along to add some variety. Michael drove. ! had him pull over out on the plains to drain off a pot of coffee. There is one really happy tree on the roadside. It probably won’t sleep tonight with all that caffeine. Since Roth ! went out to do one run. 0.2 miles and ! was wasted. Not a confidence builder. My strategy today was to not blast off the front on the first 5k only to blow up 1k in. ! took it easy. What would have been easy for anyone else. ! wanted to run the whole course. 7:50 average is pretty decent for me.

A few problems in T1. My shoes were clipped in for Roth and my feet just fell into them so ! tried it again. No such luck. ! was out to the main road before ! was actually cranking. Onto the 1st leg of the Y ! saw Jocelyn and noted my distance. A bit of math at the turn around put her 4.6 miles ahead of me. ! could compare that to her lead when ! hit the 2nd turn around. Next came Tanner, Al, Michael and some other people. Coming back on that leg was a slight tailwind. A couple extra mph. The next leg sent us back into what wind there was. Jocelyn was still way in front. My calculations gave her about 1/10 of a mile bigger gap. Then came Tanner and Kevin. Kevin was churning away. No aero bars. He knew his responsibility out there. If Jocelyn flats or has any bike issues parts would come off his to get her rolling again.

! didn’t cramp this time. ! got close and backed off just enough. It hurt though. Coming up to the second turnaround, ! got behind a girl who took the turn a lot slower than ! would have. 20 feet later ! was by her. 5 seconds lost. My disk wheel is in Memphis for repairs. ! was using an old round-spoked wheel. Still ! was going to push fast as ! could. Then the girls started going past on their way out. ! think my aero helmet is more aero when it isn’t sideways. Just so you know, Jocelyn only beat me by 5 seconds on the bike. She had the good wheels, no Roth lethargy, power to the pedals right out of transition. No pokey girls in front of her and she didn’t have to gawk at the rest of the ladies on the road. All that combined probably cost me 5 minutes.

Into T2 and my feet were already starting to ache. The heat had arrived. Not the cops. The guy with the “police” helmet was an easy 5 mph slower than me. ! was well into the run by the time he got off his bike. No the temperature was way up there. Close to 90*. Just 5k to run. ! took it easy. Just a nice, steady pace. Some people passed me. Some couldn’t keep up. ! kept focused and continued on. A guy from Ohio came up next to me. ! explained race strategy. A moderate pace will get you stuck in a pack of some of the faster chicks. The best looking ones. Adjust your pace to stay in that sweet spot. On the bike you can get as close as 3 lengths behind them. He thought it was 4. He’ll be much happier in his next race. The girls here are way better looking than those Ohio girls. He faded just before the turnaround. ! was really hurting now. The temptation to walk was strong. ! walked just enough to chug 2 cups of water, but then it was back to it. Passed another guy. Keep the pace up. Keep moving. ! pulled it off. Only 5 or 6 steps walking. Craig gave me a cup of water and then got me another. It was a genuine Rudy Project cup. “Technically Cool Water” 1:40:47. 13th out of 20 and 92nd of 238 overall. ! beat every female over 50.

This was the final event in the series and it was breakfast time. Eggs, shredded potatos, tomatos and cheese on a tortilla. Then home for a nap. A grand time was had by all. !’m glad ! don’t have anything else to do today. RESULTS are up already

Quelle Challenge Roth Teil zwei Die Folge

Rick the Clydesdale has graciously offered to convert this report into a screenplay. Nick Cage keeps calling wanting to do something based on my life. He (Nick not Rick) tells people he looks like me all the time.

Ok race fans. When we left off ! was just coming out of the water. Matt was the only one in my wave so he was probably getting on his bike by now. Up the ramp a bit and a left turn for a 100 yard dash to the changing tent. All the T1 bags were lain out in 4 rows by number. Mine was in the very first batch so ! knew would need to take my time wobbling out of the canal to get my sleeves off before ! got my bag. ! had, somewhat optimistically, made sure to put the drawstring on top of the bag so ! could have something to grab onto as ! sprinted by. ! wasn’t quite up to sprint pace when ! got there but ! did pass a guy on route to the tent. ! threw my stuff on the table and sat down to finish peeling. A volunteer came over to assist. Surprisingly Melissa was not hanging out in the tent. She seems to have an affinity for naked men. ! had all my gear out. First step, turn on the Garmin. It sprung to life and found satellites instantly. One worry down. The volunteer brought me wasser to wash down ibuprofen and Imodium. ! sorted through the stuff ! wanted and didn’t want. Arm warmers had been recommended so ! had them. ! was pretty sure ! wouldn’t need them even if it had been the coldest ! had felt the entire week there. Set them aside. Grabbed my socks and ran out.

The bikes were parked in a field and it was damp from all the rain. ! was parked closest to one of the exits so ! strapped on my helmet and ran to the pavement, laid my bike down and put my socks on. Shoes were already clipped in and the first few yards were flat. ! was in my shoes before ! got to the highway. The first turn put us on a nice descent then into the S’s. A few well patched potholes. ! took it a little easy after being horizontal in the water. ! didn’t want to get horizontal in someone’s yard. Next up was the Bier mile. A little village. All the streets were lined with tables and the locals were having bier and yelling. Every village had 2 or 3 corners. Kind of like a criterium. ! was concerned on the drive that the mobs would make the tight corners sketchy. Turns out there was no one from Moonlight Classic hammering through with me. ! had to yell “linke” (left) a few times, but mostly the apexes were clear. Did ! mention the crowds went wild? Come through towns fast and they go wild. Especially if you are passing. They were lined up on the curbs. The kids would stick their hands out and ! would slap them as ! went by.

First aid station was at the edge of town and bottles of “eeesso” were there for the taking. Just past that was special needs. ! didn’t see anyone and didn’t need anything so ! just kept going. There were little towns like that every 5-10k. Also people would come out in the “suburbs” and on the climbs to cheer. The climbs were steep but short. Most of them had an announcer and 80s music blasting. Mix that with screaming fans and you have a recipe for wheelies. ! did the best ! could. They loved it. In some places kids would hold their hands out on the left side of the road. If you dive across the road just to high five some kids the crowds went wild. Especially if you accelerated to do it. ! couldn’t talk to the other guys around me since they all had funny sounding names and spoke some foreign language. That and they didn’t have the lungs to talk at the pace ! was going. One of those guys kept leap frogging me. He could climb better, but couldn’t get up to my cruising speed. His name was Axel. Axel had a scraggly beard and an ancient steel road bike with toe clips. ! finally dropped him.

By now we had settled into a rhythm and knew who was going at the same pace. ! was attacking pretty hard through the towns and on the climbs so backing off to recover was necessary. At one point ! was just getting to breathing normal again. There were 5 or 6 of our group strung out in front of me. Another guy came up behind me, said “you are fast. Don’t slow down” in broken English and pushed my butt. That was fortuitous. ! was up out of the saddle, gripping the cow horns and hammering. Just as ! was passing the front guy of our gang ! hit another hamlet. ! was really haulin’ ass and once again the crowds went wild. ! didn’t even hurt at that pace. Most of the first half of each lap was into the wind. Which meant the back half would be tail winds. Just the opposite of what ! had been expecting. We were out into a fairly long exposed segment so ! just stayed down and pushed. The fans were thin out here in the farm land. No one to blow kisses to. Grind, grind, grind and there is the sign.

The sign that ! had feared. GREDING!!!! Greding was a climb. Up 100 meters in just 3k then it got easy. Another 50 meters of elevation over the next 2k. Our turn off the main road was sharp and a slight grade to lose momentum. Then another hard left to get rid of the rest. And the road just turned up. It curved a couple times so you couldn’t see the summit. ! dropped down to my granny gear and just let the climbers go by. A few wheelies and then some more when ! got in sight of the announcer. ! wasn’t really losing much time to the fast guys. Several would go by. ! kept my pace steady and spun as easy as ! could in 42x23. Finally grinding over the top a little descent and mostly flat. About the time ! recovered there was another sharp little bump and a family standing by to cheer. ! had to attack. ! felt great and just blasted over the bump. It was downhill from there. Slight, but still. .. ! saw no reason to scrub off the speed ! had gained on that attack so ! just picked up my cruising speed.

Another fortuitous event. Cruising fast on the long open straight the marshal came alongside. The guy who had just struggled past me must have been drafting for a while. They had a chat. He slowed down and ! passed him back ! had to cut between him and the motor to pass on his left. Not long after a truck came by with a clock on the back. It was about 4 hours. ! was really confused. ! figured it was race time and ! should subtract 1:05 from it to get my time. ! was still confused. Then another motor came by. And then some dude passed going a bit faster than me with 2 guys chasing him. The front guy’s ass said Macca and he had 50 yards on me now. ! wasn’t too impressed with his speed so ! jumped on just as we started into the technical descent. ! looked at my mileage. There were some back markers to deal with. Linke, linke. Enter the corners wide, hit those apexes, exit wide and set up for the next. Macca was still only 50 yards ahead. ! started cranking out of the corners. ! thought for a moment That ! might be able to catch him. He’s really good though. ! couldn’t close that 50 yards for 5k. Then we started up hill and off they went. 5k with Macca on his way to his 4th straight win. He must have been running scared knowing ! was back there.

Back into the open. It was hot and a false flat. ! hadn’t really had anyone to talk to. They all had funny names. There were a lot of foreigners out there. Like Jose’. He was riding an Orbea. Obviously he was from Spain and expecting to get rained on out on the plains. No. He was French. We had a ways to go before Solarer Berg hill. ! was coming up a little climb and saw one of the white Roth jerseys that everyone with TTE had. Except for me. ! wasn’t sure who it was. He wasn’t nearly wide enough to be Tanner. Tanner would have had to have blown up spectacularly to be there anyway. ! read the name. Darin. Still ! had no idea who it was. ! pulled up next to him. It was Tinger. ! had to see the scruff to recognize him. My brain wasn’t working so well. ! was doing all my thinking with my legs. We chatted for a bit and off ! went.

Looks like a town up ahead. Oh it’s Hilpoltstein. Solarer Berg hill. The fans were thick. There was a narrow line up the middle. Some guy jumped in front of me and slowed way down. ! couldn’t get by and now ! was taking it easy. A chance to look around at the girls. Oooo la la. One in a bikini top. ! looked at her and put my finger on my cheek. She planted one right there. ! was tingling more that if ! had touched Jeff Carroll. Over the top and we were heading back past the schwimmen venue to start lap two. ! was building speed and into the bier mile on the gas. The fans, once again, went nuts. Cheering and pounding their steins on the tables. ! knew Christine and everyone in special needs would know ! was on my way. Wave and blow kisses to the fans. Hop the train tracks. Grab more eeeso. Schnell, schnell. Let’s do it all again.

The mobs were still out. 10 or 15 miles into ronde 2 ! saw the fairy ahead. ! was hoping to sneak up on her and swat her butt, but a truck decided to stop right behind her as she entered a section with a median. ! just yelled over at her and rode on. ! was hearing strange noises and feeling some drag whenever ! stood up to hammer. At mile 75 ! pulled over to see what was amiss. My disk was having issues. It would easily wobble from brake pad to pad. This is not good. Just a few miles to Greding again and ! was going to have to stay in the saddle all the way up. There was a Mavic support van past the steep section so ! was hoping ! could get it fixed or a trade. ! sure wasn’t going to quit unless it just collapsed on me. Mavic does wheel support in le Tour and other big races. They don’t speak so good the English. By the time ! got to them ! had convinced myself the axle was broken. The skewer was holding it together. Still 35 miles on that wasn’t something ! had fantasized about. They agreed it was not in good shape and advised me to stay seated to the finish. ! asked for a trade. They looked but only had 650 rears. ! was SOL. They did give me a push to get going again. Soon ! was over the top and rolling the flats. Every motor that came by ! asked about the Mavic motor. No info.

Nothing broke any worse. There’s the turn into T2 and there was the chick that kissed me on Solarer Berg hill. She acted like she didn’t even know me. After that magic moment ! thought we had something special. Feet out of the shoes and coasting in. There were volunteers to catch bikes. ! dismounted and sent her rolling into the arms of a teenager and ran for the tent. Bike time 5:57:21 including the stops. 19 mph avg.

There were T2 bags to sort through. ! found a spot on a bench and peeled off my shorts. ! had peed big time in them twice and didn’t want to run in them now. One of the volunteer gals asked if ! needed any sunscreen. Take that kissy chick. ! put on my running shorts, changed socks, new shoes, hat and shades. Off ! went. Oh wait. Trail mix. !’ll go back for a snack. Now off ! went.

My plan was to walk the aid stations and run the rest as far as ! could. They seemed to be spaced every kilometer. My feet were swelling when ! ran. When ! walked the aid stations they started to feel swell again. We were in the woods about 2k out when ! saw the lead girl go by. Then Belinda Grainger. About 4k we got to the landing. At that point the course split into two out and back loops about 10 miles each. That was the only place they had outhouses and ! had a full bladder. One was open so ! ran in. The lock wouldn’t engage so ! closed it as best ! could and hoped no one would try to come in. It was the one on the end and the corner was not supported. It rocked when ! shifted my weight. So ! rocked it. Clearly it was not available. The fans went wild. This is Christine’s favorite story from the whole race. Out ! came. Cheers all around.

Onto the canal trail for miles and miles. The swelling wasn’t subsiding when ! walked the aid stations anymore. It felt like my shoes were about to burst. And there was Katrin. On her way back. Calculations indicated she was about 7 miles ahead of me. Susan was up next. Looking strong. Then came Matt and Tinger. Somewhere along that trail ! discovered the gesture to whip up the fans. Off the trail into a little village. The aid station had an announcer and 80s music. Yeah, yeah. It was good stuff too. ! had to dance. We looped through town and headed back out. There was Melissa the fairy again. She swatted me on the ass with her wand. ! ran on.

Back onto the trail ! saw the crazy Cajuns. Mark and Smitty. Smitty is quite a character. The best way to describe him is half of Denny. Half his size and half as mature. He makes up for it with drinking super powers as Macca would find out Monday night. According to Tanner, Smitty just about out drank the whole bar. Macca was concerned and probably was really hung over Tuesday. Macca called Smitty’s girlfriend back in Louisiana to tell her Smitty was crazy. !’m sure she knew already.

About mile ten ! stopped at an aid station and saw what ! thought was a bier bottle. ! was correct and asked for a cup. Mmmmmmm. Now my feet were really in pain. ! was walking more than just aid stations. ! tried to run when the fans were about. ! had to get them frenzied. Finally the landing again. ! was about half way.! Started out the canal trail the other way. Susan was still running into the aid station coming back. She had 4k to go. ! had 20k to go. Katrin was well ahead. On and on ! went. We turned into another hamlet and back tracked. More 80s hits. More dancing. Matt was looking strong. Tinger was still moving. ! told him Susan had just finished. ! was probably close to right. More dancing. They played We are the Champions. ! started to sing then realized the embassy probably wouldn’t help me so ! stopped.

! was walking a lot now. A turnaround and it’s slightly downhill. Much better. More dancing. The crowds went wild. Back to the trail. Three Germans came up while ! was walking. They would have none of that. They wanted to pace the superstar in. They were fans. ! ran. The strong one sprinted ahead and started running backwards with his camera. He nearly flattened another guy walking. ! stayed with them as far as ! could then sent them on. ! really should have trained for this. My calf was starting to feel a little tight. So were Kristin from Chicago’s. ! went back and forth with her and chatted. ! was running faster, but not as far as her. ! got through the aid station on the landing. 4k to go. Around the corner ! found 6 fans. ! instructed them to cheer for Kristin. They did. On we went. ! passed a guy who told me it was 8 o’clock. That was an hour earlier than ! thought it was. ! was going to hit about 13 hours. Through the woods and back onto the road. It was close. ! couldn’t tell where.

! could see about 100 meters ahead. No real indications that it was nearly over. The fans were thickening. There was a mat. ! sprinted. More to go. An arch over the entrance to the stadium. ! sprinted. More to go. The bleachers were full. Just to the other end. ! worked the crowd all the way to the end. Where is that carpet going? Across the stadium. Ok. Just a bit more. ! can do that. There’s a jumbotron. The carpet turned again. Crap. One more length of the stadium. Work the crowds. Ziel. Finally. A medal. A bier. Time to take a shower. 13:02:14

It was 8:30 when ! finished. It was a long time after that that it got dark. It did that every night. ! think those people on the Western Slope put mountains up so they could steal our sunlight. Let’s get ‘em. Brat and bier. We watched the fireworks. Time to go retrieve my bike and junk. Then back to the bed for sleep. That was a long hard day.

Monday morn ! was glad ! was on the 2nd floor instead of the 3rd. ! was planning ahead for stair excursions. Today is haircut day. The place across the street was closed. Katrin said she had seen a place nearby. She offered to walk me over there. The stylist didn’t speak English. Her and Katrin chatted in German at length about how cute ! am. We picked a style and off she went. ! feel much less hairy now.

Tuesday was travel day for most of us. Katrin had left for Greece with her sister. Susan and Tinger were on their way to Croatia. Matt and Andrew had gone to the early flight. That left me, Melissa and the crazy Cajuns. Smitty was still smashed. He spent the whole ride leaning on Melissa telling her how soft and warm she was. Mark kept recounting how he went to the shower and found Smitty sitting in the bathroom naked. Melissa listened intently to both of them. ! beat my luggage home.






Das Ende

Thanks to Matt for the photos.

Quelle Challenge Roth Travel and Schwimmen

My first (1st) Iron distance race.

First and most important, it’s good to have friends. Thanks to everyone who helped out on this endeavor. Tanner and Christine for running the Triathlon Experience handling all the logistics for what could have been a huge farce. Charley for telling girls ! was doing an ironman even when ! hadn’t even left town yet. Dr. Brett for the use of his bike box. He swore to me that it would protect my girl even if tsa jumped up and down on it. His misguided trust in federal employees is quaint. Shelby Katz for suggesting that ! might not be totally sane. As you know, mental illness is a leading cause of IronMan success. Jeff Carroll for starting several hours after me. Diamond Denny for being such a pain in the ass that ! couldn’t permit him to push harder than me. And for the Grand Slam Slugger. Dr. John for fixing my knee and Achilles tendon and generally just straightening things out. SUPER DANKE’

Travel

The plan: leave home @ 7:30a to Stapleton park n ride. 22 minutes on Sky Ride to DIA. 2 hours to get to the gate and have a snack. No problem.

How it really went: Left home @ 7:30a to Stapleton park n ride. On Sky Ride. 5 minutes to get onto I-70 down the on-ramp. 2 crashes up ahead. Bus diverted through neighborhoods. ! had looked up which side ! needed to de-bus online. US Airways was on the far side. Straight up to the counter. They pointed out that it was “operated by United” on the other side. Walk over get in a long line of teenagers wearing matching t-shirts. Then ! realized that was the “group” line. ! wanted to be in the “big baggage” line. Sidestep. That line only moved when someone figured out they only had little baggage and left. Tim from Boulder Tri Club was up ahead w/ his box. He recognized the Triathlon Experience sticker on my box and came over to chat. His flight had been cancelled so he had several hours until the next one. Still an hour to go. He waited after he checked his stuff. The checker decided ! was in a hurry and sent me on my way. Next up the tsa line. ! headed straight to where it usually backs up to. It was still going. It seemed to be getting longer faster than ! was approaching the end until it was almost to the baggage claim section. Time for some stress. The line actually moved pretty fast. No bonus searches for either of us. Train ride to B then walk the entire length of the concourse to my gate. There it is. 5 minutes to spare. The gate guy ignored me. Then told me they had been paging me @ the gate for 15 minutes. ! could see the plane sitting there. They had closed the doors and were unconcerned about my predicament. Of every flight ! was scheduled to be on including the adjustments that was the only one that went on time. Tim accompanied me to customer service to stand in that line. He held my spot while ! went to the phone to talk to “Bill” in India. He couldn’t find me anywhere. Finally to the front of the line. They told me to sprint to the far end of concourse C and try to get on that flight to Charlotte. They got me on and assured me ! would make my connection. ! was skeptical since my layover was only an hour and this flight was taking off more than an hour later. Tim was on his own.

Charlotte to Frankfurt was to launch @ 4:30. ! touched down in Charlotte @ 4:30. the Frankfort flight left 16 minutes late while we still taxiing in. ! didn’t even have gate info. That was the last flight to Germany. Two tomorrow. 4:30 from Charlotte landing 7a and 4:05 from Philly landing 6a. Both over booked. The Philly flight was better odds so ! was on the next plane to Philly. Had to find a shuttle to a hotel an food. Ever had a meal in a hotel restaurant that serves Chinese and American food in an area with nothing around. ! didn’t think ! could get through all the fried rice even after many hours w/out feeding and lots of soy sauce.

Next am after watching Fox News Channel for awhile and punishing the continental breakfast it was off to the airport. 3 hours early to maximize my odds of getting on the plane. They had a seat for me. Now ! just had to get through security and wait. Many hours later we put skid marks on the runway in Frankfurt. Down the stairs to the bus and into the terminal. Luggage was already on the carousel. The crowds thinned and before long ! was left alone. After some research we found out my bags were on the Charlotte flight that had just landed.

The Frankfurt flughof (airport) is a 2 ½ hour train ride from Nurnberg where Christine or Tanner would pick me up. The Bahnhof (train station) was as far away in the airport as they could get it and required several trips up and down escalators. The baggage carts seem to have been designed to handle escalators. ! got to the sunny spot and asked the info guy where the train was. “Down 2 escalators. You have 2 minutes” There was a gal on the escalator who wanted the same train. We were half down the 2nd one and could see the train leave. That’s when ! realized there were elevators and ! had no ticket. Back upstairs to find a ticket machine. The same girl was on the phone crying.

Ticket in hand, ! descended back into the depths. Here it comes. Onboard and off we go. Slowly through town to the main Frankfurt station. It seemed to sit still for a long time there. The porter came around. His best English sentence was “get off”. It seems ! was on the wrong train and this was the end of the line. After much pointing and waving ! was headed to the right platform. ! couldn’t really be sure though since everyone over there speaks mostly German. The engineer made announcements in German then English, but ! could barely understand either until he finished with Good Bye.

Arrival in Nurnburg came 20 minutes earlier than ! expected. After de-training (basically what ! had been doing for the last 2 months) ! made my way to the prescribed meeting place. McDonald’s. Tanner or Christine would find me there and all would be well with the world. They charge extra for catsup and mayo to dunk your fries in. The water is all carbonated. Tanner had been wandering the halls looking for me. 20 minutes on the Autobahn and we were closing in on Hilpoltstein.

Pre Race

Tanner was preparing to pick up AJ and drive the bike course. ! tossed my stuff in the room and loaded up. By this time ! was approaching 20 hours without sleep. Some of the climbs looked a lot steeper than ! had expected, but still short. Much like 17th between Broadway and Sherman. The little villages had twists and turns going through them that were a little tight for the car. ! was worried about them once the road was clogged with everyone who got out of the water before me. Halfway around Tanner announced Greding. We rounded the curve and ! woke up. Screaming, sweating, trembling. It wasn’t Olde Stage Rd, but it would be the second time around. It was steeper and longer than the other climbs and then there was a less steep part on top of it. Tanner said there would be headwinds once we got over the top. A few more miles mostly flat then into the trees. The steep descent. The tight corners. The hay bales. By now ! was nearly holding my eyelids open with my fingers. ! needed a nap before the barbeque.

Massage, Bier, food and most everyone from the TTE group was there. Tim made it. Susan and Darin still didn’t have their bikes and Susan didn’t have any clothes except what she was wearing. The Second Mayor of Hilpoltstein was there and gave us all pins. ! gave her a hug. She told all her friends !’m sure. Christine was in the paper that day. ! had missed the breakfast with the pros that morning. See Matt’s photos. ! had suspected we would be traveling to a race venue to meet them with hundreds of others. They came to our hotel. In the biergarten. We were getting real VIP treatment.

Breakfast was quite impressive. Sliced ham, turkey and roast beef. Several types of cheese. Rolls and Danish from the bakery just down the street. Soft boiled eggs, cereals, yogurt. Fresh OJ and lots of coffee. On the second day we discovered the egg opening machine. A metal cup with a rod extending from it was placed over the point of the egg. The metal ball is dropped from the top of that rod striking the cup which distributed the force to the lip. A perfect break. Just peel and eat. Those were heady times following that discovery. Screw the iPhone. No one went hungry.

Two more times we made trips around the bike course. The handling of a 9 passenger van is vastly inferior to a 9 kg race bike. AJ listened intently as ! described the best way to handle the corners and other technical sections. My advice probably helped him shave 5 minutes off his race time.

Check in and the expo came with rain. Lots of rain. We had our numbers and T bags as well as some idea of what to do with it all. Back in the biergarten bikes were coming out of the shed for some final tuning and tightening. Things were looking good. No one was nervous yet.

The night of the big pasta feed coincided with some lunatics running from Hilpoltstein to Roth. About 20 miles ! hear. One of the girls suggested the fried potatoes we had would make a great hand up so out to the street we went. Greasy potato wedges were grabbed by passing runners. Mark was too amused by the whole event to continue on without pain killers. He had very recently broken a few ribs and a scapula in a bike crash. He wouldn’t be racing. We returned to dinner.

Friday morning the canal was open for swim practice. It was rumored to be 73*. Since ! race in Colorado ! had no idea what that would be like. ! was going to practice without the wetsuit. Orca had some loaners there so ! tried one on. We approached the water tenuously expecting the Aurora Res. chill. One toe in and it was amazingly comfortable. Deeper in and it was still really pleasant. ! peed and things really warmed up. Time to move. Matt, Katrin and ! swam far enough up the course to see the far bridge turn-around then came back. Susan swam 2 or 3 laps around the course and was changed into dry clothes by the time we came ashore.

Saturday afternoon was bike check day. They gave us giant plastic covers to keep the rain off. T2 bags got dropped then also. Time to plot out the swim exit and route to the T1 tent. Then how to get to the bike and then onto the street. It rained on the walk home. It was to be an early evening though there wouldn’t be much sleep. Tension was building. Other than Tanner this would be the first iron distance race for the entire RMTC contingent. If Tanner was nervous the rest of us could justify the butterflies. Could Melissa justify her fairy outfit? That was the big question. Race day weather was forecast to be warm (mid 70s) and sunny. A little rain during the swim and then a little more to cool things off for the start of the run. In other words the Coloradoans were packing snorkels for the bike ride. It had been cloudy, cool and rainy every day we had been there. The locals would carry odd webbed fabric contraptions over their heads on a stick.

Schwimmen

Race day dawned quite a while after we were up and feeding. Constanza had breakfast ready for us @ 4:30am. Most of us started walking over to get body marked by 5:30. Place the T1 bag in the designated spot. Drop the dry clothes bag @ the truck. Wetsuit application was a good warm up. The pros and the girls had started already. ! had 1:05 to stand by. The pros were out of the water. Susan was out 15th overall. ! vaguely recalled what color swim cap ! had put on and found a mob of matching caps outside the holding pen. ! was beginning sensory deprivation. Earplugs in, goggles fogging up and wrapped in rubber. Matt was the only one ! knew in my wave. No way ! would have recognized him if ! had looked for him. They let us into the water. 50 feet to the start line. 2 minutes to go. ! planned on starting behind the front row. That’s where ! set up. Then ! peed and decided it was time to move. There ! was right up front. Had this doubt ! was feeling come up when ! was deciding to sign up ! could have saved 1000s of dollars and hours of training time. As usual my timing was way off. ! was preparing to attempt the longest swim of my life and the longest run of my life. Sticking a 180k bike ride in between wasn’t sounding like such a good idea. Why am ! here? 10 seconds. The cannon sounds and we’re off.

Thrashing wasn’t as bad as ! had anticipated. The fast guys were going ahead. The slow guys were eaten by sharks. ! was out there with feet to draft and ! felt ok at a comfortable pace. The course was one out and back. Under the next highway bridge, turn around and return. Just past the highway bridge near the start and turn around for the final 100 meters to exit. ! was approximately half way out when ! saw ! was well behind a group that ! could draft. ! sprinted up to them and settled in. That was the only time ! altered my pace. Then there were the buoys. ! did a Charley roll around them and my calf seized up. A bit of stretching and ! was off. It would either work it’s way out or be a real problem. ! had a long swim to let it settle down. By then every stroke increased my record swim distance. ! still felt good. Perhaps ! wouldn’t drown. ! made it out of the water in 1:18:21. Nearly 12 minutes faster than ! had expected and 5 faster than Susan had told me to expect.

Don’t go away. There’s a lot more. ! just have to drink bier and make it all up.