Bismarck Tri Race Report.

I just finished my first race of the season.

It was a pretty small race since there's next to no tri scene in ND, but there was some pretty good competition available since the olympic distance was ND's best of the US qualifier. There were 11 olympic entrants and around 35 sprint entrants.

65F at the start. Partly cloudy with small sprinkly rain cells. Pretty bright when the sun was on you.

Swim.
course. The swim was in a marina off the Missouri River, which is damn cold runoff from MT's Rockies. I was surprised the water was 63 degrees.
I took my second swim ever in my new wetsuit, and it paid off, despite my incessant zigzagging on the course. I was shoulder to shoulder on the last 50meters with the woman who got the women's BOUS title later on. I completely forgot bodyglide, but I had no chafing from my '08 QR hydrofull.
~23 minutes for the 1.5km. 1:09min/100 according to the printout.

T1. Fast! I was second onto the bike course. ~30 seconds

Bike.
course: The oly bike was an out & back, and was half along the river flats, and half extending up into the Buttes lining the river. Decent road surface for the most part. Great ND scenery!
On the way out, I was flying--but the top woman screamed past me in a matter of minutes. I don't know how fast I was going since I don't have a computer on my Cervelo right now, but I was spinning out on my 53x11 going down some of the hills. I was met with 12-19mph headwinds at the turnaround, and saw about 4 cyclists within about 1/2 mile. It seemed like there was more uphill on the way back and that coupled with the wind was murder. I ended up gapping the other cyclists. 21.5 mph ave(I think)

T2. I struggled with my socks, so I was a little below par. ~1 minute

Run.
course:Flat as a pancake around the marina. Lots of big houses under construction. Should be really scenic in years to come.
I was hoping for a better time than I got since I've been doing more running than in the past, but I'm going to blame my time on a lack of training in the last few weeks coupled by a simultaneous abundance of red wine. The first mile was tough as usual, and I felt slow until I passed the second aid station, at which point 2 guys passed me. After I passed the turnaround, I pushed my pace after getting passed by a 3rd guy. There was alot of people cheering at the finish.
7:37min/mile. (the guy who won did 5:48/mile)

Finish
6/11 overall
2:23:??
1st in the 19-29 age group-- I got a coffee mug and a pair of socks!

Malfunctions:
My neck was shellacked with 50SPF, but I got cooked anyways. I thought my dork helmet might help prevent that, but I guess not.

Wardrobe. Despite fitting properly, my jersey's zipper compressed down under my wetsuit, and left a nice sore in the middle of my chest. I was also "adjusting" some "essential equipment" since my tri shorts aren't so comfortable, and I think I gave a cyclist going the opposite direction a "nice" view.

I hit one spot of roadpatch that must've been warmed pretty well, and my clydesdale heinie pushed the rear wheel into the tar. My frame cutout & rear brake are covered in tar. Looks great on a white bike. Or not. :(