Frenchtown Triathlon

The Frenchtown Triathlon was the last triathlon in my 2006 season and the first using a tri-bike. This one was a bit of a mixed bag, so I thought I would summarize with a positive/negative list.

Positive

• The event started at 9:00am and was less than an hour away.
• The weather was overcast and just under 70 and the rain held off until after we left.
• Parking, registration, transition, finish, and start were all very close.
• I felt awesome the entire race. I was ready to go around again at the end.
• Tri-bikes are great bikes for triathlons.
• Yellow is fast.
• Found a hydration process that worked for me. (take 5 seconds to walk at the aid stations to drink the entire cup full)
• Was 5th out of the water.
• I had a few short, friendly converstations on the course.

Negative

• I was misdirected at the beginning of the bike leg and accidentally added 3.5 miles (about 12 minutes) onto my bike ride by taking the run course.
• The run course was narrow and I almost fell off my bike.
• Because I added 12 minutes to my time, I finished 33rd overall instead of in the top 10, like I would have if I was shown the correct course.
• The bike course had way too many turns and turn-arounds. I had to stop my bike on several occasions because of traffic or tight turn-arounds.
• I was setup next to some unfriendly people in transition.
• I saw people drafting for miles and nobody was on the course calling it.

If I can overlook the misrouting and the poor bike course, I can say I had a great time. I'm excited that I could have finished in the top 10 and I am super pumped for next year. I'm planning on keeping my training up through the winter and I'm hoping to see some improvement in my times. Thanks to everybody who supported me this year. It's meant a lot to me to know that other people get excited about this too.

photos and results for the Frenchtown Triathlon.

Next up: the Detroit Marathon, October 29th.