Austin was my third trip to Texas since 2007. I raced in Dallas in 2007 and Lubbock just a few months ago, but Austin is by far my favorite city of the three.
After one of the smoothest travel days in recent memory, I arrived in Austin on Saturday at 7 pm and my roommate, Chris Riekert and I arrived at the La Quinta by 8. We settled down a bit and then went to the front desk for recommendations for places to eat. The lady at the desk answered 6th street, 5 blocks south of where we were staying. As we approached 6th street, we could hear the commotion of people just having a good time. We looked around for a couple of blocks and settled on a cafe in the lobby of one of the hotels. Most people were enjoying some extravagant desserts, but Chris and I inhaled some quality burgers. By the time we finished our meal and walked outside, the party had really gotten started. They were people everywhere. The streets were actually closed to traffic. I thought it was Mardi Gras or something. Chris turned to me and said we should just call everyone in the race and tell them to go out so we will all be on a level playing field. And, after knowing the final outcome of both of our races, I think both of us should of just started the post-race festivities a couple days early.
The actual race, well.... sucked! For starters it was 90 degrees and pretty humid and you know how much I love heat and humidity when I race! My 5 minute warm-up run felt more like I was jogging in place in a sauna. I was at least happy it was a non-wetsuit swim because it would have been death putting on a wetsuit in that weather. I was also super pumped it was a non-wetsuit swim because a.) I was swimming really well and b.) that meant I got to try out my new suit - the Kiwami Kameleon( a hybrid suit that inserts neoprene panels on the chest and thighs for extra buoyancy). The suit felt awesome in the water and I knew I was going to crush this swim. However, the start of the swim did not go nearly as planned. I love in water starts because with my get out speed I usually gain a huge advantage on the field. I was #19 for the race and was happy with my starting position. However, once the commands we given and the horn blew, the rope that was in the water (to prevent us from false-starting) actually was attempted to be pulled up, literally hanging me by the neck. I then got the pleasure of getting bull dozed by the people behind me. It was by far my worst start ever. I worked the rest of the swim to get towards to the front of the swim and exited the water in 13. There were two packs of 3 up the road and we had a pack of 6. We did not exactly work well together, but caught the first pack of three before getting swallowed up by the main chase group of 20 by lap 2 or 5. At that point I was perfectly content to assume my position at the back of the pack and prepare for the run. I felt really good going into the run when one of the athletes decided it would be an awesome time to play human pinball and managed to hit the curb, taking out half of the pack about 1k from the finish of the bike. The guys that were able to regroup trickled into transition about a minute down from that front group. I made it into transition, but my body was in no shape to run. This debacle in Austin inflated my average crash rate since January 2008 to one in every three months – Yeah! I should really look into the full body armor!
The only redeeming quality of the trip was the post race party on 6th street the night after the race. But it was an expensive party to attend. My flight cost $200, but the most outrageous thing was that my bike was $250! I could have bought a seat for my bike... it could have even enjoyed extra leg room and upgraded to economy plus for the extra 50. If at all possible, I will avoid flying United ever again.
After one of the smoothest travel days in recent memory, I arrived in Austin on Saturday at 7 pm and my roommate, Chris Riekert and I arrived at the La Quinta by 8. We settled down a bit and then went to the front desk for recommendations for places to eat. The lady at the desk answered 6th street, 5 blocks south of where we were staying. As we approached 6th street, we could hear the commotion of people just having a good time. We looked around for a couple of blocks and settled on a cafe in the lobby of one of the hotels. Most people were enjoying some extravagant desserts, but Chris and I inhaled some quality burgers. By the time we finished our meal and walked outside, the party had really gotten started. They were people everywhere. The streets were actually closed to traffic. I thought it was Mardi Gras or something. Chris turned to me and said we should just call everyone in the race and tell them to go out so we will all be on a level playing field. And, after knowing the final outcome of both of our races, I think both of us should of just started the post-race festivities a couple days early.
The actual race, well.... sucked! For starters it was 90 degrees and pretty humid and you know how much I love heat and humidity when I race! My 5 minute warm-up run felt more like I was jogging in place in a sauna. I was at least happy it was a non-wetsuit swim because it would have been death putting on a wetsuit in that weather. I was also super pumped it was a non-wetsuit swim because a.) I was swimming really well and b.) that meant I got to try out my new suit - the Kiwami Kameleon( a hybrid suit that inserts neoprene panels on the chest and thighs for extra buoyancy). The suit felt awesome in the water and I knew I was going to crush this swim. However, the start of the swim did not go nearly as planned. I love in water starts because with my get out speed I usually gain a huge advantage on the field. I was #19 for the race and was happy with my starting position. However, once the commands we given and the horn blew, the rope that was in the water (to prevent us from false-starting) actually was attempted to be pulled up, literally hanging me by the neck. I then got the pleasure of getting bull dozed by the people behind me. It was by far my worst start ever. I worked the rest of the swim to get towards to the front of the swim and exited the water in 13. There were two packs of 3 up the road and we had a pack of 6. We did not exactly work well together, but caught the first pack of three before getting swallowed up by the main chase group of 20 by lap 2 or 5. At that point I was perfectly content to assume my position at the back of the pack and prepare for the run. I felt really good going into the run when one of the athletes decided it would be an awesome time to play human pinball and managed to hit the curb, taking out half of the pack about 1k from the finish of the bike. The guys that were able to regroup trickled into transition about a minute down from that front group. I made it into transition, but my body was in no shape to run. This debacle in Austin inflated my average crash rate since January 2008 to one in every three months – Yeah! I should really look into the full body armor!
The only redeeming quality of the trip was the post race party on 6th street the night after the race. But it was an expensive party to attend. My flight cost $200, but the most outrageous thing was that my bike was $250! I could have bought a seat for my bike... it could have even enjoyed extra leg room and upgraded to economy plus for the extra 50. If at all possible, I will avoid flying United ever again.
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