Poke

     I finished my block of long, endurance rides this past week. The temp has cranked back up, which made for some hot, draining rides in the sun. It seems like I rode a different bike each day. I started the week on my singlespeed cross bike, then moved on to the race road bike. I did the local group ride on Thursday with the race bike. It turned out to be a bit more than I had bargained for. It was super hot most of the ride, then a thunderstorm snuck up on me the last hour. I ended my ride with a time trial that got even more interesting when my shifter cable decided to break about 8 miles from home. The cable had frayed badly under the bar tape and a fragment jutted through the hood covers, poking me a little in my palm. That left me riding a singlespeed yet again and staying in my drops to avoid getting stabbed. I did beat the storm home by a few minutes though.

Cable poking through

     I was not willing to back off my week at all to rest for the Music City Triathlon. It was not a priority so I was training through it. Shannon and I went out for 36 miles on Saturday morning. It was her longest ever ride. We were blessed with a cloudy, cool morning as we rode out to Adams, TN. We picked the wrong day to ride to Adams. The town of about 100 people was hosting a festival called the Thresherman Show, which brought in several thousand people. The show is for antique farm equipment including old tractors and horse-drawn buggies. They also have a tractor pull and mule pull. We were riding in the traffic of everybody heading into town. Most were pulling tractors behind big trucks. Others were riding in horse-drawn buggies. It was cool to see, but a little chaotic at the same time. More than once I thought we might die.

Shannon cruising through a tunnel

Going up a small, wooded climb near Adams

     I felt great after we got home so I went back out and logged in some more time to end my day with over 4 hours of riding. We then did yardwork in the hot sun most of the afternoon. I tried my best to stay hydrated, but it was nearly impossible in the heat. We worked hard all evening, going to pick up a new freezer and installing it in the house. That was easier said than done. I had to take off the front door to get the thing to fit inside. I am pumped to have more room for berries! I also had to put on my aero bars, fix my shifter cable and change out tires. Needless to say, I was very fatigued by the end of the evening. We didn't have much time for dinner and ended up eating ice cream. What an awesome pre-race meal.

    As usual for a triathlon, it was an early morning, departing the house well before sunrise. We had some construction traffic to negotiate, but made it to the race in plenty of time. I brought two bikes so I could get in a warm-up after the transition area closed. Sprint racers always start first at Music City, followed by Olympic distance. They also seed everyone based on expected swim time. So, with me being Olympic distance and not exactly a fast swimmer, I was going to be waiting a while before my chance to start.

     Registration took longer than expected. They red-flagged my registration because of my new USAT license. I don't know what the big deal was. I've already raced on it twice. I had to go through three different registration lines before finally getting my numbers and packet. I had to hurry a little to get my stuff into transition in time. The transition area closed 30 minutes prior to the start, so everything had to be in place early. They announced that the swim would be shortened from 1500 meters to 1000 meters due to excessive river current from recent rain. I was a little disappointed as my main motivation for this race was to get in a long swim at race speed.

      After getting things set in transition, it was back to the car to change. It was already hot standing in an open parking lot letting the sun bake you. We could hear the announcer at the river and I actually thought they were already starting people. I didn't think I had time to warm up on the bike. I honestly didn't even feel like getting it out. I was hot and tired already. I just wanted to get in the water and cool off. We hurried down to the river to find out that the first swimmer hadn't even gone off yet. I could've gone back and got the bike out, but I decided to save my energy and just relax for the next hour. I was worried about being able to make the full distance. Last year I had a hard time with the run and I was well-rested.

Racers lined up on the dock awaiting the start of the swim

Swimmers heading upstream from the dock in the Cumberland River

    Finally, it was my time to get in line. The line slowly worked down onto the dock. The dock is a hectic time to me. I like to get my face wet before I put on my goggles just to help them seal a little better. I always put on my swim cap over my goggles so that there is less chance of them getting kicked off my head should I run into some feet. I splashed my face, got the goggles set and put on the swim cap just as we were told to slide off the dock into the water. The past two years the water was deep by the dock, but this year it was only about 3 ft deep. It was a sudden jolt when I hit my feet on the bottom, which was made of sharp, cragly rocks. I got stabbed in my right foot, just in front of my heel. It felt like a piece of wire poking me rather than a sharp rock. My first thought was of infection from the river water or tetanus from the wire. I only had about 10 seconds to worry about that before it was time to start.

Me in the middle on the dock

About to reach the starter and get the race underway

Swimming away from the dock for 1000 meters of fun

     The swim began against the current. I hit it as hard as I could, pretending the first buoy was the finish line. I wanted to use my strength to pass the weaker swimmers while we were pushing against the current. If I overdid it, I could always coast back with the current. My foot burned like fire the first 5 minutes and then began to ache. It was annoying, but I don't think it slowed me much. I passed quite a few people in the first half of the swim. The toughest part of the swim was the last 100 meters where we crossed the current back to the dock. The current was pushing people downstream way past the exit point. I made sure to look up often and keep myself pointed as straight as possible toward the ladder on the dock. The guy ahead of me was slow getting up the ladder so I gave him a helpful shove in the butt. I got out of the water with a swim time of 20:38. I was seeded 295th based on my expected swim time, but my time was 164th fastest. I definitely had some proof to go with my argument than I should've been seeded a tad higher.

Looking down on the swimmers from the Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge

Racers head from the river toward the transition area

It was a painful run from the river for me after cutting my foot

     There was a lot of traffic on my run up from the river to the transition area. All the people were walking! I was trying to run without touching my heel on the concrete because it was still smarting from the cut. I had to run through the grass to pass a pack of walkers and that got the foot to hurting even more. It was killing me by the time I reached the transition area. I got a quick glance of the wound as I slid on my socks. It was a nice round little hole at the edge of my heel and arch. It looked like somebody stabbed me with a pencil. There was some swelling around it and it was bleeding slightly. I jammed on my socks and struggled to run out of transition. I was gritting my teeth and limping, but I managed to keep running and moving fast in a big line of riders exiting transition.

Changing into my bike gear in transition

The right foot was not feeling good at this moment

    Putting my shoes on while they were attached to the pedals was tougher than I remembered. I haven't practiced it in a while and it showed. I got the tongue of the shoe all smashed up around my toes and couldn't get it out. I gave up after a a few tugs. It was only 24 miles. Comfort shmumfort. My foot ached for the first few minutes, making me wonder how it was going to handle the run, but then all of a sudden it stopped hurting. I settled into the best rhythm I have ever had during a time trial. Sometimes it's just nice to not care what your time is. I concentrated on riders ahead and picked them off a few at a time on the out-and-back course. We were to do 2 laps of the 20km course. It's mostly uphill on the way out, then downhill coming back. There was a headwind coming back that took away from the fun of the downhill.

Bike course heading out of Nashville on Ellington Parkway

Me passing by LP Field to begin lap 2 on the bike

     They had to add a few turns in the early part of the loop due to construction. I took full advantage of my cornering skills on both laps and ripped the turns at full speed like a crit. I was cruising on the second lap. I found a good cadence on the climb and was able to stay in my aero bars until the very top. My legs were tired from all the training recently, but they were strong. I finished in 1:06:22 with a 22.9 mph average speed. That was 24 seconds faster than I did it last year. Not bad for riding with tired legs! I went faster and did it with much less effort. I was 16th quickest out of 355 on the bike. I love coming into the transition area a seeing all the bike racks around my area empty. That's when you know you passed a lot of people.

LP Field in the background on the bike course

Rider comes into transition at the end of the bike segment

These two almost piled up just ahead of me during dismount from the bike

Me coming into transition following the bike

It crowded and dangerous going in and out of transition

Video of the bike segment

     I was still a little worried about my foot when I came back into the transition area. 10K is a long way to run with pain. Like I said, the pain had stopped while I was on the bike and I'm happy to say that it never returned. I had a little heel soreness when running, but it was nothing to worry about.

Run course mapped from my Garmin 305

     The run was hot. Most of the roads are in the sun as you wind through the streets of downtown Nashville. We do two laps of 5km each. Each lap contains three climbs that are tough. The first comes over the Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge, starting almost immediately after exiting the transition area. I felt good starting off, but the hill hurt! I got settled in on the descent off the Pedestrian Bridge. The course then takes you around to First Ave, which begins flat next to the river, then turns up steeply. This climb is the hardest part of the course for me. It's steep and all in the sun. And the pavement was chewed up from the construction. I had a hard time on this climb, but recovered well on the descent down 2nd Ave. The final climb comes up Third Ave. This one is more gradual and was easier for me to hold my pace on. Then it's downhill and flat around the back of LP Field to the finish area.

Running up the Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge

     I felt good after lap 1 and could tell I was not going to bonk like last year. My first 5k loop was just over 25 minutes. I was hoping to hold that for another lap and get close to 50 minutes for my run time. I was very smooth and settled on lap 2, but the first two hills beat me down. I ran well up Third Ave. and finished strong, but I dropped 3 minutes, ending with a total time of 54:19. That was 13 minutes better than last year and left me 161st best on the run for the day. Overall, I ended up 80th out of 355 with a total time of 2:26:12. That landed me 11th out of 29 in the 25-29 age group.

Nearing the end of lap 1 on the run

Still smiling at the end of lap 2

Turning up the speed as I near the final turn and finish line

    I am VERY pleased with my performance. I was tired and very unprepared beforehand, yet had my best road triathlon ever. I was not even that tired afterwards. I visited the medic immediately after crossing the finish line and had them clean out my wound. It looked much better than it did after the swim. Most of the redness and swelling were gone. And it had stopped bleeding. Shannon and I went out for a spin later in the evening to loosen up my legs and clear out some of the lactic acid. It was a great way to end my big block of training.

      This week is a rest week. I've been healing up my foot and giving the legs some much-needed rest. And it has been a good time to catch up on things around the house. We lost a lot of our flowers around the house with the drought, but the garden is growing well now that it has rained a few times. I have been tossing around the idea of making a riding video for some time. Now that I have the GoPro and a few new accessories, I'm putting the plan into action. The first segment is in progress and I should have it finished soon. I can't wait to finally finish one and share with everyone.

Got an extra battery for the GoPro so we can film for longer

New LCD screen with battery indicator so we can play back the video and make sure the shot was good

Joby Gorillapod Tripod with GoPro Mount

The Gorillapod can attach onto anything...including the skinny metal hook atop a flower pot.

The morning glories are finally taking over the stump in the backyard

    Thanks for reading! Next race for us is this weekend in Morristown, TN for XTERRA Panther Creek. It'll be my last off-road tune-up before Nationals.

Qualified

    The hard work is finally starting to pay off this season. Lock 4 not only gave me my first win of the year, but also got me qualified for the XTERRA USA Championships in Ogden, UT in September. I'm already registered and ready to go!

     I've changed up my training a bit to improve my endurance. The sickness in March ruined my base and I haven't had a chance to get the miles back up. The past 2 weeks I have knocked out 20+ hour weeks. I love getting out on the bike that much. I really do enjoy riding. It was crazy hot for the first week, but last week cooled down with some rain rolling through middle Tennessee and relieving our drought conditions. I got in a century one day after work which was cool. You rarely get enough time after working to knock out 100 miles. I spent a day or two in the rain, but overall the weather has really cooperated for me. I enjoyed the rain. It's been very dry here so it was nice see rain falling and also get cooled down during the ride. I'm starting my third big week now to finish off my block of endurance riding. Then it will be time to really crack down on the running and swimming to get ready for Utah.

Cumberland River on an early morning ride

Hanging out with Keith, Misty and Ben following a Tuesday night group ride in Sango

     During last week's big training week, I also got to play around on the mountain bike at Marty Pierce's house. He has a few ramps that I have ridden before. I rode my dirt jump bike and also his BMX bike. I loved the BMX. It was so light compared to my mountain bike. The lightness made it very easy to pitch around on the quarter pipe. His son, Trevor, also rode with us and played on his skateboard. The kid is pretty good to be so young. He led us in a game of follow the leader before the night was out.

Video: Riding BMX with Marty and Trevor

    I'm enjoying the Tour de France right now. It's been more exciting compared to recent years, at least from my point of view. We don't have cable/satellite at home, so I either watch the race at work or on British Eurosport online. The X Games were good this year too. ESPN made them available on demand which meant I could watch them at night after my rides. It always cool to see the progression of all the sports. One of my friends, Mike Brown, was there racing the Enduro X. He's a Pro motocross rider and venturing into the Endurocross scene. We have raced on the same team at the 12 Hours of the Hill of Truth in Oak Ridge, TN a few times. Mike's a cool dude and I was happy to see him not only make it to the final, but win the gold! Go Mike Brown!

Mike Brown in action at X Games

   I have two more triathlons ahead. This weekend is the Music City Triathlon in Nashville. I don't expect a whole lot from this one. I'm just not that excited about doing a road tri. The only reason I signed up was for the swim training. It's a 1 mile swim, which is just a tad longer than the 1500 meter swim we will face at XTERRA Nationals. I'm also going to be coming off another week of long hours. The following weekend I will get one more chance to brush up on my XTERRA skills at XTERRA Panther Creek in Morristown, TN. I will rest up for this one and hammer the whole thing for training. More to come afterwards...

Peppers from our garden

Make It 3

    My week between XTERRA Scales Lake and XTERRA Lock 4 Blast was a hot one filled with lots of dirt. Well, the dirt was mostly dust. It's been very hot here, with temps well above normal. We've rocked the triple-digit temps for the past three weeks and have had no rain, which has led to very dry conditions on the trails.

      We took advantage of an afternoon off work to go pre-ride the courses at Lock 4. Shannon and I did a full lap on the trails. Then I did some race-simulation work, hammering out 2 laps on the 6-mile bike course and then going for a lap on the 2.1-mile run course. I had maybe the best run I have ever had, running under a 7:30 mile for my run. That's fast for me on a trail. I usually run in the 8:30-9:00 range.

    I hit my backyard trail a few days too. They were short rides just to keep the legs going and to fine-tune the bike. We have a bunch of blackberries growing in the creek so I've been picking them as they ripen to keep the freezer full. Most of the bushes along the road have dried up with the drought. Yes, I know I'm a berry freak.

     I was excited on race day. This was the first week in quite a while where I had no aches or pains. I finally didn't feel like an old man! We had another early rise. That seems to be a common thing with triathlons. The transition area was crowded this week and I barely got a spot. The temperature has stayed up at night lately so we haven't had much relief at all from the heat. The forecast was for 104 degrees. I was glad to be starting at 8am! It was a humid morning which makes getting changed a challenge. It's amazing how hard it is to put on a skinsuit when you are already sweating.

Parking lot early before the race

     The swim was 1/2 mile long in Old Hickory Lake. We started in the water just off the tip of the peninsula. All racers started in one big wave this week. I started at the front, but again had difficulty the first few minutes. I started faster than last week, but everyone merged over into my lane. They told us that fast swimmers were to line up on the left and slower swimmers to the right. Nobody changed sides after that announcement. I was in the middle and got run over as everybody from the right side tried to move left after the start. I think I dog-paddled more than swam the first 5 minutes as there were just too many bodies ahead of me. I finally got into a clear lane just before the first buoy. I started picking off swimmers in the second half. There's always a few guys that know me from mountain biking and they like to pick at me about being a slower swimmer. It was awesome to beat all except one of them out of the water. I slowed some at the end of the swim in hopes of hitting the bike with less fatigue than last week. That slowed down my swim time to just over a minute slower than last week at Scales Lake. I think that was mostly due to the crazy start though, rather than my backing off at the end. I clocked at 17:44, coming into the transition area around 25th place.

Start of the race in Old Hickory Lake

Out of the water and running to the transition area

    I fumbled around in transition, losing my balance while putting on my socks, causing me to step onto the edge of my helmet. That catapulted my GPS and gel flask into the air. I also stepped on my shoes and pulled both the velcro straps totally out of the loops. I had to kneel down and re-thread the straps, then find my GPS and flask on the ground. Most triathletes will go without socks, but I can't stand riding and running without socks. Besides, my shoes are a tad too big so I need socks to take up the extra space. I did try something new for this race. I went without gloves. Again, most triathletes will do this. I have no problem with that on the road, but mountain biking is a lot tougher on the hands. You put much more pressure on the grips which can lead to blisters. And there's a lot of trees flying by your knuckles throughout the race. But I thought I'd give it a shot anyway.

In transition

Leaving transition to begin lap 1 of 2 on the bike

     It was nice being farther up in the group. I've always been outside the top 50 when starting the bike. Traffic was still a problem, but the riders were much more spread out. Most of them let me by as soon as I caught them, but I did have a little trouble with a few. My first lap was like last week. Despite backing off at the end of the swim, my legs were flat and my upper body was tired. I was hoping to run 28-29 minute laps, but came it well outside 30 minutes on lap 1. I did however, move up to 6th overall by this point.

GPS map of the bike course

     Lap 2 went better. My legs really came around by halfway through this lap. I moved up to 5th overall and ended the lap with a dead sprint for the last 2 miles. The sprinting caused me not to notice my GPS flying off my wrist. Apparently, you can sprint hard enough to cause the plastic mount on your wrist to flex and allow the GPS unit to pop off. I came through the finish and reached for my lap button only to find an empty wrist. Those things are way too expensive to just lose on the trail. My second lap was a tad faster than lap one. Still, my time was outside 1 hour and a good 3 minutes off the best bike time. I seem to be swimming better, but it's effecting me more once I get onto the bike. I did not like going gloveless. The water left from the swim, combined with a lot of sweating in the heat, made for a slippery grip. I had my hand nearly slip off twice on rough descents. My hands were sore afterwards from having the death grip on the handlebars. Definitely don't want to have a hand fly off on a fast downhill. That would not end well.

Rider coming over the jump

Me keeping it low and fast over the jump

    I had 4th place in sight as we began the run. I did my best to hang with him the first mile. It's a tough start to the run with an immediate climb on the road out in the hot sun. I did ok on the road, but I was way winded when we entered the woods and I started dropping time. I tried to yell at Shannon too, to led her know that I had lost my GPS in case she heard of someone finding it. I am used to judging my run pace by the numbers on the GPS. With no gauge I just ran as hard as I could. I didn't try to pace myself at all.

     I hurt bad the first lap, but then got settled in. I had lost sight of 4th, but I was holding onto 5th still. I got caught halfway through the second lap and lost one spot. The guy came by fast and I had no chance of hanging on. I was getting tired in the last mile, but I could hear footsteps. I knew I couldn't back off. Mike Edens was the guy behind me. I had passed him near the end of the bike. He's a good rider and I was surprised to get away from him like I did. He's been training hard for this event and was running a bit faster than me. He caught me as we exited the woods. I hung on to his pace up the last hill and waited for a sprint. We were in different classes, but I still wanted to beat him for overall placing. I started the sprint early, hoping the element of surprise may give me the edge. He was ready and we went toe to toe all the way to the line. I gave it all I had, but he beat me by a foot. It was such a fun way to end the race! I was pleased to have enough left in the tank to sprint like that. And sprinting a friend is always fun. So I finished 7th overall with a time of 1:58:22.

Me about to enter the woods on the first lap of the run

     I had no idea where I finished in my class. I immediately headed in for another lap on the bike with Shannon to look for my GPS. We rode over an hour looking with no luck. Then we went back to check results just in time for the podiums. I rolled up the hill to see Daryl Glascock waving at me with my GPS and to hear my name being announced as winner of the 25-29 class. That makes three wins in my class in three years at Lock 4 and should seal the deal for me going to Nationals.

I look very out of place on top of the Men's 25-29 podium

Video clips from the race shot on the GoPro

    I am pleased with my first win of the year, but I know I have a lot of work to do to be ready for Nationals. It was stupid hot when we finished at Lock 4. We stopped for some frozen yogurt on the way home and then hit my parents' pool for some swimming. Actually, it was more floating than swimming. I had enough swimming in the race! Thanks go out to Shannon, Amber and my Mom for the pictures and videos. They also helped keep me motivated during the race and let me know which place I was in.

XTERRA Scales Lake

    My XTERRA season kicked off a few weeks ago on June 23 at XTERRA Scales Lake in Boonville, IN. It was a really fun weekend of camping, riding, racing and hanging out with family. Amber is still in town staying with us and we met Shannon's parents at the race site. They were looking for a few days away and decided to make the trip down to see us since we were racing in Indiana. It was still a long drive for them, but they made a fun trip of it, stopping in Indianapolis along the way to tour the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and some other historic places.

    We headed up to Boonville on Friday afternoon as soon as I got out of work. It's a fairly short drive from Clarksville at just over 2 hours. We got to Scales Lake Park with plenty of time to set up the tent and go for a pre-ride of the race course. I was expecting a flat layout cruising around the lake, but the course was anything but flat. There were many, many steep ups and downs that felt like a roller coaster. I really enjoyed the loop as it reminded me of the old SERC race course in Reddick, FL. Shannon on the other hand, was not too fond of the steepness of the hills, both up and down. She is still new to mountain biking so it was a bit scary. She handled it well though, walking when she wasn't comfortable with the terrain. I was pleased to not have hamstring or knee pain. I was really worried after it bothered me so much in the week prior.
   
     It took much longer than I expect to ride the 6-mile loop and we almost got caught out in the dark. The race loop came right behind our campsite at one point and Shannon bailed out there so I could hurry around the last bit. It was nearly dark when I finished the lap, but I wanted to see the run course so I went back in. The run course was crazy. The trail was freshly mowed, narrow and off-camber. There were a lot of trees down as well. I walked some of it because the hills were crazy steep. I had a hard time walking them, let alone riding them. It was definitely an advantage to get in a pre-ride on this course.

     Race day came bright and early. We actually woke up before 5am, which was well before the alarm went off. It was probably the best night of sleep I have ever had in a tent. I felt great! I hit registration early and got my transition set up. The race consisted of a 1/2 mile swim in Scales Lake, followed by 2 laps of the 6-mile mountain bike course, and then one lap of the 3.6-mile run course. My goal was a top 3 overall and to win the 25-29 class. I was sure that this goal would be achieved. My bike is always fast and I thought I would be even faster on this type of course and also in the swim with my improved form.

Awaiting the start in Scales Lake

     The race began with us already in the water. And it was a fast start! I was on the front row and went to the back in the first 10 strokes. I kept my cool though and concentrated on my form. I swam my own race and didn't worry about anyone around me. They started us in waves, with my wave being everyone under 40 yrs old. Some of the 40+ wave guys came strolling by towards the end of the swim. I did my best ever swim time, coming out of the water in 16th out of my wave with a time of 16:33. That's a full 5 minutes faster than I've ever swam that distance. I did make one little mistake near the end. The water was clear and I thought it was shallow when I was about 15 feet from the shore. I tried to put my feet down and was surprised to find no bottom. It looked about 3 feet deep, but was well over 8 feet to the muddy bottom!

Swimmers rounding the last buoy

Me coming out of the water

Running from the lake to the transition area

Video: Swim start

    Transition went well and then things got serious. I started picking off the people on the bike, but I wasn't feeling well. I made a lot of mistakes and didn't have good legs the first lap. Still, I moved up to 4th overall by the end of the lap. Lap 2 was much better. My time was a minute faster than the first lap. I made up some time on those ahead of me, but it wasn't as much as I had expected to make up. Some of the other guys were faster on this terrain than I had anticipated. My time was good enough for second fastest bike time of the day, which was a disappointment. I wanted nothing less than fastest bike time, but I was beaten handily by 1:25. I came off the bike in 3rd overall. It was starting to get hot now with temp in the mid-90s and the sun shining brightly in a cloudless sky.

Grabbing a drink at the end of my second lap on the bike

Bike course

    My run started fast. I only had about 30 seconds lead on the 4th place overall. I wanted that podium bad so I ran with everything I had. The first half of the run I did well. I actually pulled away from the people behind me. There were 3 sections that were gnarly with narrow, off-camber hills and lot of roots and rocks. I made it through the first two without getting caught, but I was hurting after 2.5 miles. We came across the dam next to the lake at mile 3 and I was finally caught. Two people came by, neither of which were the guy I had been trying to stay ahead of. I didn't get my podium, but I held on for 5th overall finisher. My run time was 32:22 and overall time 1:42:37. I was 15 minutes off the winner. I ended up 9th overall after they did the math of subtracting the times off the guys in the second wave.

Heading out for the run segment of the race

Nearing the finish

Run course

     I didn't know that I had been leading my class until the run. One of those two that passed me in the last mile was in my class and he won. That put me 2nd in the 25-29 group. So close! I wanted a win, but 2nd is nice too and gets me some good points towards qualifying for nationals.

       After the race, we rolled over to Biaggi's, a nice Italian restaurant in Evansville. I would recommend it if you ever pass through the Evansville area. It was good food and good service. I have been losing coolant in my car for a week or so and have been trying to find the leak. We stopped by a sewing store for Shannon to look at some material and found a big puddle under the car when we left. I couldn't find the leak until the next day when a friend from church stopped by. He found the leak quickly and pointed it out to me. When he touched it, the line exploded and blew coolant all over us. It was still hot too. We got the part the next day and put it on. The travel mobile still lives and is ready for more races!

     This race was to be my only XTERRA race in June, but with my recent strong of injuries and set-backs, I didn't feel ready for the Cincinnati crits that were scheduled for the following weekend. Instead, I stayed home to work more on my triathlon form and try to earn some more points at the XTERRA Lock 4 Blast. I will say that it went pretty well. I'll post a report from Lock 4 soon. Thanks for reading!