1-2-1 and first Triathlon Win!

Friday: After a couple of days off the bike I jumped on my FUJI Friday night at the Superdrome to go out and "play" a bit. I screwed it up in the Scratch with a 5th place but was able to pull off the "V" in the Miss'N Out, the Points Race and the Omnium. Unfortunately, the last race saw a nasty crash with a couple of guys going down and Daniel Walker getting the worst. But he's hopefully back on the bike quick.

Saturday: After a very short night we drove out to Aubrey to do the monthly Horse Country Time Trial organized by Kevin Hill aka DallasBikr. The 20K TT with some serious rolling hills was a good test for next week's state TT for many participants including me. I just rode right at my threshold the entire time and fell short 15 seconds to Comp. Depot's "young gun" Shane D. I definitively could feel the legs from Thursday's training where I rode a 40K at threshold pace.


Sunday: I skipped the "Festival of Speed" at the Superdrome (too many sprinters and crashes...) the night before and tried my hand on something else: a triathlon. They had a Sprint Tri in Flower Mound and with a 350m swim, 16mile bike, and a 5K run I was aiming to get Top 3. It worked out even better as I jumped in my Speedos at 6am (yes, I was the only one in those...), swam a 6:15, spent too much time in transition, past many people on the bike and suffered through the run: I won!

One thing I learned from the whole triathlon experience this morning: We all can be very lucky and thankful to promoters about the payouts amateur cycling has to offer. Because in a Triathlon, unless you are a pro, you gotta pay $80 entry fee and get a medal for your win. And yeah, it's an even more expensive sport, too. To give you an idea what a average triathlete spends on her/his "hobby" vs. me, the new guy on the block, I came up with that list:

• Swim (Tri-guy): Goggles ($25), Swim Latex Cap ($5), Swim/Run/Bike Suit ($120), Timex watch ($60)


• Swim (me): Speedos ($15, couple of years ago)


• Bike (tri-guy): Scott Plasmas, Orbea Ordus, Trek TTXs, etc., ect. ($6K), saddle bottle-cages w/ extra CO2's ($30)


• Bike (me): '05 Specialized S-Works Road Frame, Ultegra group, Made in China Front wheel, very used clincher disc, self-made aerobars (maybe $1500 if I sell it on eBay...)


• Run (Tri-guy): Race Belt ($20), IronMan Hat ($20, unless you actually went to Hawaii), newest pair of Oakley's ($120), shiny NEW shoes ($100), same Swim/Run/Bike Suit like mentioned earlier


• Run (me): Mercy Cycling Shorts + Socks ($20, since their '06 model and worn), 4-year old Nike's ($10), T-Shirt (free)