On your left...

I did my first duathlon on Sunday. The format was run-bike, the distances were 6 miles and 15 miles. "That's not too bad..." I thought to myself as I registered.

Ha!

The run was a 'Trail Run', except about a quarter of the time there was no trail. I was simply running through the woods like a deer. Or maybe more like a hippo, or a llama. Down super slick slopes, up ravines, through brambles; it was a pretty intense course. Although difficult, this course slowed down the faster runners, allowing me to get to the bike section in the top 20. The six miles took me about 57 minutes.

I was quite pleased when I got to the bike section. I could see that there were still quite a few bikes left on the rack, and I knew that I had the right bike (single speed) and the right experience (lots of time riding in mud...) to do well on the course. I started passing other riders right away. It was very hard riding, since the course was mostly covered in slick mud and had several deep bogs. Some sections were quite rutted and others had puddles of unknown depth. Taken together, the bike course was challenging but well-suited to my bike, setup, and riding style.

In the end, I was the 5th person across the line out of 56 starters and 47 finishers. As luck would have it, I was second singlespeed. The guy who won the overall was on a Gary Fisher Rig. Two out of the top 5 on 29er singlespeeds...at a duathlon! Gotta love it.

Results: http://www.xdogevents.com/Assets/Results/DIRTYEVENTS08.HTM

Pictures from the event to follow. They took a ton of pictures; should be interesting. The bike is trashed, as you would expect from a mud fest.

Riding this week on Wednesday and Thursday. First XC race of the season on Sunday. Did somebody just cry "Havoc!"...