Westport Minuteman Triathlon - Triathlon

SWIM - 1/2 mile. 1:15 per 100 yards - 16th OA out of the water

I find Billy and tell him he will I will be on his feet like white on rice during the swim. He tries to move away from me, I follow. The swim start was 2 waves. Men and Relays first. Women Second. Waves were 5 minutes apart. The Swim @ westport is a 1/2 mile straight swim with 2 sighting buoys. Swimmers line up against a rock jetty about an eight of a mile long. I remember I used to go crabbing off jettys like this. I await nibbles on the toes. Everybody ready? GO!
This swim was strange for me. I get going right away and get on someones feet...not Billys. but they'll do. I stay inthe bubbles for a while and then move to his right hip and start catching a draft with my left arm. I feel good. I start day dreaming. I realize this when there is no one around me. I look up, pretty decent line. Where the hell is everyone? I think I may have been zig zagging, I had that OH SO delicious taste of the long island sound seawater in my mouth. I come out of the water running. There isn't anyone really around me, I must have been just off the back of the lead pack.

Eh, who cares anyway... I don't!

Good transition. I ran in and pulled the wetsuit off in less than 5 seconds. Splashed some water on my feet to get the sand off, sidi t1s on, helmet on, I am off.

Nothin!

Bike - INCLUDING TRANSITIONS and crash - 5.5 miles 15:53, 20.78 average

I was SO ready to tear the bike up. I had a fast transition and my legs felt good and this is only 5.5 miles!!!. I get up to speed around the first corner and I am flying, 26 mph. I have Sound Seawater drool coming all off the side of my face. I decide to wait a while before worrying about it. I am doing good, I pass 3 people. We come around to my first set of small hills. i hammer up them. I pass jake and yell a couple of words of encouragement to him. We come to this really good decent where, if you hammer hard in the big ring, you can really get some speed going. I do so. I come around the corner fast, 25+ , maybe faster. This is where it happens...
There is a place in under the 95 overpass where there is concrete in the center of the road and asphault on the side. There is about an inch to two inch drop between these two surfaces. I come a little wide around the corner and as i go to get to the side of the road, my tire gets stuck in this 2 inch grooves. My front tire shakes hard. Here it comes. My front wheel dissappears. My hip, my side and my shoulder hit the ground. I begin to slide, I would say for 15 feet, this way. My body and my bike come to a stop. I lay there for about 5 seconds. Fuck! I say this over and over in my head. I have a quick deliberation with myself. OK, should I keep racing? Then I see Jake go flying by me. YES. I will race. I get up and throw my leg over. I go to start pedalling. Not hapening. I look down, my brake was jammed into my wheel and my aero bars were way out of alignment. I quickly remedy these issues as best and as fast as I can. I click in and go. I havent yet seen any of my injuries but my whole left side is kind of stinging. I hammer through Longshore, wish I was stopping in to get a drink @ splash, and come back to Compo. Here is the most aggravating part of the ENTIRE race, more aggravating then falling. As we come back to compo beach there is and ambulance parked there in the midddle of the bike course between the fence and the pay-shack. And what are they doing there you ask? They are, arm slung over the window sill, macking it to the highschool volunteer chicks sitting there. WTF. I politely go flying around them and they go, hey man, slow down, its not a race or anything, and laugh. FURY.

Not fall. Throw a water balloon filled with urine at the ambulance parked in the middle of the bike course. Maybe I will develop a little pouch on my bike to accomodate this urine water balloon.

Run into T2, people are staring and my shoulder and whispering, lovely. Bike down, helmet off, kicks on. I am off.

RUN - 2.2 miles - 12:33 - 5:42 per mile avg

I start the run and I immediately get my bike to hard running lungs. This means I am breathing like that guy in Terminator 2 who is holding the bomb when the swat team comes in at the end. I see Jake AGAIN! I run passed him and one other guy. My hip hurts. I am running pretty hard. I am so over thiss race already. I run hard, as I come around the statue I notice, to my left, I am passing people who are riding their bike. I tell them nice job and try and run harder. My lungs @ about mile 2, start feeling good. Good thing I only have .3 miles to go! I see a guy, who on a better day with a little more distance I would have enjoyed catching. I don't catch him. I come down the finishing cute and finish. They take my chip and I stand around shaking hands of the other competitors. I tell my bike crash story... many times.

Now that I look at my time I guess I did have it... lol

This was a terrible run for me. I just didn't have it today.

I finally asess the damage. I look, my entire shoulder down to mid tricep has no skin. My Lats are scraped as well. My Forearm has a nice gash on it. My hipp has a huge scrape on it the size of a dollar bill and is swelling up and turning black and blue. Both knees are a little scraped too.

I walk around chatting it up. I wait around for my ribbon. "And 1st place in 25-29, Dan Cerasale...Diverdan we call him"

10th overall.


Falling on the bike I think. That stupid seawater taste in my mouth probably too.


Fun, painful, little race.