2012 Steamboat Classic

2012 Steamboat Classic Triathlon

Cape Girardeau, MO

Pre "incident"

My first triathlon of the year. The Steamboat Classic has been my race to see where I'm at after off-season training and work any kinks out before showing up to any of my "A" races. I did a little extra pre-race tune-up on my bike since it had been so long since my last race. I wanted to make sure that it was running as smoothly as it should. My cranks seemed a touch loose and there were some issues with the bottom bracket so it was replaced and then I was ready to go. I had an early start to my day to make the hour and a half drive and to get there early enough to get setup with a good spot in transition. I was really feeling great about my training and my pre-race excitement to reep the rewards was high.

The indoor pool swim in "The Bubble" went about as expected, with a slight improvement over previous years. It was just good to be into the race and off to an acceptable start. I quickly went off to start the bike course. I was really pushing hard and catching everyone that started in front of me one by one. At around mile 11, I was just a few bike lengths away from catching the person that was likely to be the leader of the race and had been either first or second to start. I wasn't expecting to see him until somewhere on the run. That got me really excited about what kind of result I was going to have today. Just then there was a loud noise and my cranks slipped with nothing to grab. Slowing to a stop while looking down trying to figure out what had happened. DISASTER! My rear derailleur was ripped off of the frame and floating around on upper section of chain. There was no fixing this... so I just started running with my bike. 4+ miles of running up the hills and through the flats, my only rest was getting to hop on and coast the downhills. So many of the people I had passed were getting to go on by. It seemed like I was never going to make it. Finally! Into transition and off on the actual run. I took a slightly conservative pace, knowing that I had lost too much time to go for anything great. I even took the time to stop for drinks at both water stations.

This WAS NOT in a transition. This was out on the bike course!

I finished in 38th out of 164 and 8th out of 27 for my age group. More importantly, I didn't DNF. I know there are reasons to do so, but I haven't had anything that bad happen to me yet. I had a similar incident at the Alligator Creek triathlon where I broke a chain. That wasn't fun either, but I finished it as well. A huge complimentary post-race meal and then I made the long drive home feeling pretty disappointed about how the day had unfolded.