Swim & Bike

This weekend was my second open water swim of the season, and it wasn’t too bad. I placed 6th in my age group (probably out of 7, but that’s ok). I came in under my time for the AT Open Water Swim last year, and to me that’s really what counts. My time was 36:40 – and didn’t include the 20 or so feet of “too shallow to swim, and too much jagged rock to run” beach at the end. Why do official swim times always have to include some awkward running/stumbling get-out-of-the-water portion? Glenda was there cheering the swimmers out of the water, and it was nice to see a familiar face.

After the swim, a few of us were geared up to ride a modified Fitzhugh Flog, but we had a slight delay in order to see Dionn get her 2nd place award. I have a feeling this is the “Year of Dionn” and I couldn’t be happier for her. She has always excelled at basically anything she’s ever tried, and she’s a gracious winner. For Christmas, her husband sent her to tri camp for a week to start off the season, and it has definitely paid off.

After the awards, we embarked on a 34-mile bike. There were 5 of us and I was on my new bike for the first time. It was intimidating figuring out the gears, and I felt nervous without my granny gear as a safety net. Now there are only a few hills around town that actually require the granny gear (such as Barton Creek Blvd at the 2244 light). I am SORE today from Saturday's ride, and it proves that tri bikes certainly put you in a completely different position than a road bike. If I can get more time on the bike this week, I may use it for CapTex. I just need to be sure I don’t have to think about the gears at all. I stayed in the big ring for the last 16 miles, and while this slowed me down some, it was a self-test to see if I could do it.
This coming Thursday is our quality bike workout on Wilke (aka "The Andrea," named after Andrea who fell when she couldn’t get unclipped). Since the fork on my new bike is J&A’s, on loan until mine comes in, I’m scared of Wilke. Wilke is STEEP – ranking up there with the hill at Barton Creek Blvd, except it’s longer. If I wreck this bike (remember, I have no granny gear) with a fork that isn’t mine, I’ve just bought it. So, I may do a different workout or ride my old bike for Thursday.