Deuces Wild Triathlon Festival
Show Low, AZ
Cathy and I stuffed the truck with bikes and dogs last weekend for a
trip down Hwy 60 just over the border to Show Low, Arizona. This was
the
first year for the Deuces Wild Triathlon Festival, starting on Saturday
with an Xterra triathlon, then continuing on Sunday with a sprint
triathlon and an olympic triathlon. I made up my mind at the last
minute
to try both the Xterra and the olympic.
In a panic on the Thursday before the race, I asked Cathy if I could
borrow her nice new Santa Cruz mountain bike. Much better than my bike,
if you're Karl or Cathy's size. For me, a big mistake. I rode it around
the yard a bit before we left, felt comfortable, and loaded it up. We
arrived in Show Low on Friday night, and I was testing out my saddle on
it in the parking lot, when Cathy noticed something was wrong. She said
something like: "you look like you're riding a clown bike."
OK, I thought. I've never been in an Xterra before, and I've never even
been in a mountain bike race. But my expectations are low, and I need
to
take it easy to be able to race two days in a row anyway. Good in
theory, but I didn't expect the course to be quite that tough!
Saturday morning I left Cathy, Sparky, and Gigi at the motel (Cathy's
nursing a broken foot and hates being a spectator at triathlons). All
the races took place at a recreation area in the National Forest called
"Fool Hollow Lake." Nice place in the pines just outside Show Low, with
a lake about 3/4 mile long. Nice boat ramp and parking area where the
transition area was located, I mean, everything was nice. The race
organizers, Trisports.com, did a good job in getting this race together
and getting a local organization going. Lots of volunteers and there
was
usually no question about what we had to do. I was really impressed
with
what they did with a first-year event.
The Xterra started with an 800 meter swim, and I came out of the water
18th out of 104 starters, not bad. It's a good thing I got ahead. The
bike leg, although not really very technical, was nasty for a big guy
on
a little bike. If you've been in the mountains of western NM and
eastern
AZ, you know that most of the terrain is broken lava and sand. That's
the best way to describe the course. Fifteen miles of long-ago
abandoned
jeep trails (with some roads interspersed here and there), and every
time I hit a bump or some sand, the front wheel turned. Absolutely
nerve
racking. I held my own for, oh, about 1/4 mile, then people starting
passing like I was standing still. I made it back in one piece, and
only
came close to crashing a couple of times. All the time I was thinking,
"I can't wait to get on my road bike tomorrow!"
The run was tough, too. The course took us down and back up the face of
the cliff next to the dam on the lake, then across a mostly-flat
plateau, again with lots of rocks. It was only 8K, so even my weak legs
could handle it. The big surprise was finishing 3rd/8 in my age group!
OK, I was really 4th, but the overall winner came out of my age group,
and I was bumped up. After a tough race, winning a prize was a real
motivator for the next day.
After swallowing a steak, lots of carbos, and what was probably a
bucketload of water Saturday afternoon, I was ready for the olympic
distance race on Sunday. This time Cathy and the dogs went, and it was
nice to have a cheering section.
The race organization was the same on Sunday, except the swim leg was
twice as long and the bike and the run were on solid ground. The race
was well organized again, with lots of happy (but tired) volunteers.
These guys really know how to put on a fun race! The bike leg in this
race was hard, too, with a few sharp hills as we flew downwind through
Show Low, then into the wind and uphill on the way out of town. The
return trip was a blast, 35-40 mph until we arrived back in town for
the
last few miles of stiff headwind. The run was fairly easy, with a
couple
of hills, and a decent breeze to keep you cool. And in the end, I
somehow grabbed another 3rd in my age group. Remarkably, both races
took
almost the same time, around 2:35.
Both days featured a mega-raffle, with over $10,000 in merchandise. The
olympic race had a $4,000 prize purse, so there were a few elites there
looking for cash. This was one of the best, if not the best, organized
races I've been to, and it was A LOT OF FUN, too. If it didn't conflict
with the Buffalo Springs Lake half-iron, it'd be nice. Next year it's
going to be a tough decision.