i was very under done for this but went into as a training session. the weekend before i went far too hard on my long ride and it had taken me all week to recover. i also struggled at swimming thursday and left early. as it turns out i had been carrying a sinus infection for the last six weeks and it had moved into my chest so it was antibiotics for me.
got a few things done on friday morning including dropping cooper dog off at the holiday camp. as usual he was beyond excited. i think the break would be good for the two of us and as usual when i picked him up he was exhausted from his camp activities.
on the road by 12 and in pemberton by 4.30pm. the place had not changed. unloaded the car and got a few things organised before i headed downstairs to the pub and a pretty decent battered fish and chips. love country pub food ! also love the race start time of 10am so nice sleep in until 6am. fell asleep quite early and except for the pillow that was like a log slept like a baby.
20 minute drive to karri valley and a quick check in. walked around a bit before taking my bike into transition. did not see anyone i knew. this race has quite a different feel to perth or busselton races. it is run by stadium triathlon club and they make up a majority of the competitors. it certainly did not feel friendly and it was more like i was at interstate race. hard to describe or even put my finger on it. at the swim start i was on my own. when i did speak to people they were all very nice so maybe it was just me being weird.
the swim is two laps in the fresh water lake. no sharks to worry about here, only a few ducks and maybe a trout or two. it was flat and not cold at all. i went for two caps again and this will become a permanent thing i think. i also used the vorgee goggles and they were awesome. and in another first i wore my garmin. i wish i had done this sooner. turns out i can swim quite straight but i think the garmin needs calibrating as the distance was way off. it felt like it was a hard slog. i was swam over a few times by the dickhead male component you get at every race. i thought i was doing okay as i was passing people in the different coloured swim caps who started in earlier waves. but then again maybe they were just really super slow.
i was pretty happy to get the first lap out of the way. the back section seemed to take forever but once that was done then it was around the buoy before heading straight into shore. i was tired as i got out of the water but my back felt okay. just a little unbalanced from being vertical i think. found my shoes and took forever to put them on before starting the 600m run uphill through to transition. i would have been quicker sitting down as i really wasnt bending over very well. then it took me forever again to get my wetsuit off. it was really embarrassing. finally got on my bike and headed out where things got really interesting.
while i remembered how hilly this course is i had forgotten about the bad road surface. probably worse than anything i have ridden on when talking about big chunky blue chip shit. very few sections could be described as smooth or fast. going down hill on this stuff was awful. there was also something seriously not right with my bike. last week end i had noticed the front end felt a little weird and a small rattling sound like the bottle cage holders were loose. well the front end felt okay but the rattle was huge. it sounded worse than anything i have ever experienced. it wasnt too bad when the road was smooth and i was aero but anything else and you could hear me coming from miles away. i was riding okay but this was really distracting.
i wasnt sure what to do. i got through the first lap. the downhill back past the resort was awful. i didnt want to stop and then wasnt sure if i went on the damage would be worse. it was a very strange experience. part of the problem was the 120 psi tyre pressure. i didnt think of it until i spoke to the mechanic later and then i just felt stupid and should have known better. anyway at the turn off out to the second section i called it quits and turned around. i handed in my timing chip and then took the bike over to the mechanic. long story short the front end bearings have gone AGAIN but the biggest problem is the bottom bracket has GONE AGAIN. to be honest i could have kept riding and headed out on the run but i was not in the right head space to deal with this. it was the excuse i needed to quit.
i packed up my gear and headed back to the hotel and a hot shower and a beer to drown my sorrows (first for 2021).
i felt like a big fat loser but shit happens and it was a good wake up call. i needed to get me shit together. especially if i was to cross the finish line at busselton in may. i also had the 3 dams ride coming up and i didnt want to embarrass my self there as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment