750 yd S / 12 mile B / 5k R
1:19:07 #1/8 F55-59 | #19/135 F overall | #113/389 overall
The drive to Santa Cruz on Saturday afternoon was long.. lots of afternoon traffic, but we arrived by about 4:00pm. We tried to drive to Depot Park to check in to the race.. but soon realized that that would be impossible.. the traffic was simply not moving. We parked, pulled the bikes off the car and road to check-in. This was the fastest check -in ever.. no waiting, no mistakes, all good.. I think it took about 30 seconds total. Then we went over to our friend's house off of King Street where we stayed for the night. I had planned to go in the ocean and play in the waves.. but it was frankly too cold and foggy and windy to sound appealing. Even though, there were PLENTY of folks surfing, boogie boarding and SUPing all along the shore. We went for a bike ride instead.. just an easy ride up and down the coast and to the race venue (practice route for the morning). We did, however, end up getting lost on the way back to the house.. had to stop at one of the hotels for a map -- which, by the way proved to be a VERY good idea!!!
Dinner was at Avanti on Mission. Great restaurant! great food! we walked in and were able to sit at the bar after a 2 minute wait.. just perfect.
After 8 hours of an incredibly deep sleep, I got up, had coffee, oatmeal, banana, hammer gel, race caps, vitamins and protein powder before getting on my bike to ride to Depot Park.. It took about 8 minutes to get there.
The USAT rules are strict in this race.. assigned spots for racking your bike, specific way to hang bike, etc, etc. The space reserved for the people with numbers close to mine had been freshly watered by the automatic sprinkler system. As I looked down at the ground, assessing just how wet it actually was, I noticed bits of glass... yes.. broken glass in the area where I had just rolled my bike. Not good. I picked up as much as I could, cleaned off my tires and moved my bike to the other side of the rack. I later had to move my bike back to my rack space.. or face a DQ.... The race organizers cleaned up as much glass as possible and provided a USAT "mat" for my bike wheel.. thankfully!
Our wave was the last of 4, so we all have ample time to see what the current did to the prior swimmers.. it was a long shore current pulling people to the left of the first turn buoy. When our wave went off, I started at the right of the crowd, and headed to the right of the first turn, then powered up to the second turn. It was fantastic to not have anyone around me.. a clear clean shot. At about 3/4 of the way to the second turn, another Blue Cap swimmer from my wave joined me, I followed around the turn and into shore. After a short run up the beach, I took my wetsuit off at the usual concrete step near the sand, and kept running to Depot Park. The first bike loop was great, fast and without incident. I had an Espresso Hammer Gel at about mile 3, some sips of Heed during the rest of the ride. Second loop went quickly, then down the hill back to Depot Park and back out for the run. I didn't know if anyone in my age group was ahead of me or not, I just put the hammer down and did my best. I ended up coming in about 13 minutes ahead of the second person in my age group.. woo hoo!
Another great race!
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