XTERRA Las Vegas, West Cup

Saturday was my first XTERRA triathlon. I have raced MTB for years and although courses longer than 15 miles were not my favourite, I endured them. I got to Las Vegas on Thursday and headed straight to the bike store to rent my bike. It was a Santa Cruz Blur, full suspension, XT drive train and Fox shocks. Pretty sweet ride.....for a TANK!! In its defence, I have beed riding my steel hard tail that only weighs 22lb for more than 10 years so I am spoiled. I think this thing weighed in at very close to 30lb. I dropped the bike off at my mom's place then went out to the race hotel to get things finished and go to the race briefing.

I orginially signed up for the XTERRA Cup race and after the race briefing, I was still convinced that was what I was going to do. I hoped I would get one of the Hawaii spots for the World Championships in October.....not that I can afford it right now but you never know what can happen in a few months. Went home after that, had dinner, got my stuff prep'd for the following day, then had a much needed good night's sleep.

I got up early the next day and went out to the race site to pre-ride the course. There were loads of people in the parking lot and being the friendly lot that most MTB riders are, a few of us chose to ride the course together. I had orignially planned on riding about 2-3 miles of the course and skipping the hard climb and just checking out the bike and its nuances but peer pressure and all got me to ride the whole thing. I rode all the down hills and walked up some of the steep stuff. The toughest down hill was around mile 3 and it was steep and loose. I made it down 75% then locked up my front wheel when I was trying to turn, hit a big rock and over I went. I landed mostly on my right side (I know this because of the numerous scratches and abrasions on my right side). As I was getting up and moving my bike off the trail in case one of my riding partners was bold enough to ride it, I heard the air escaping from the front tire. The rock I hit caused a pinch flat but thankfully I had a spare tube and quick fill cartridges.

I had the front wheel off and was changing it when the others made it to the bottom. A long time ago, when I raced MTB, I could change a tire in under 5 minutes but it took a while longer. After I put the front wheel back on and headed down the hill, I could hear the disc brake rubbing a bit but not so much that I was worried about it.

After that little mishap, I told my cohorts I was going to head back to the car, which I could see from my crash site but once again, peer pressure and all that had me riding the course again.....the hard part was over we convinced ourselves. The course, by the way, was very wide open and you could see most of it from the transition area.

After my crash, I took it very easy and tried not to push my effort too much. There were two other hills I ended up walking up and I skipped the last portion of the single track. I had to leave my Chamois Butt'R at home because I took everything on the plane with me and I didnt want to give it up when they searched my luggage and I was beginning to regret that BIG TIME. My nether regions were sore and I knew the next day wouldnt not be happy after the race.

After the ride, I went inside to the registration area to pay for my USAT one day licence and decided that one lap would kill me and I didnt think I could do two laps and still walk the next day. It was a tough decision as I most likely would have got a spot for the World Championships in Hawaii if I could have finished (there were not many AWAD/PC/Paratriathletes entered).

I got back to my car around 11am and headed back to Mom's place. I had originally planned on stopping at REI and buying some trekking poles but since I had changed to the shorter course, I skipped that idea too. I went back to the house, put my Skin's compression pants on and fell asleep. The pre-ride really took a lot out of me.

5pm, Mom wanted to go to Red Lobster for dinner.....otay Mom, sounds good. Had some scallops, rice, and chicken, drank a lot of water and skipped desert. We went to Target on the way home to get the boys something. AFter that, went home, got stuff ready, watched a movie, then went to sleep.....

I didnt really get much sleep. I kept reviewing the downhill where I crashed and my decision to go to the Sport race instead of the Cup race. Over and over, I kept thinking about my line down that damn hill. I woke up at 4am and downed my usual 720 calorie liquid breakfast and a banana. We were out the door by 5AM and at the race site by 540AM.

The transition was about half a mile from the swim start so after dropping my bike and run gear at the TZ, Mom dropped me off at the Hotel for the swim start then went back so she could take pictures of me getting out of the water. I made my way to the swim start and chatted with a couple of people from Boise that knew one of my team mates then got in the water for a warm up. The water was probably 67-68 F but everyone was saying it was colder....they should swim somewhere other than Vegas Im thinking, it was nice enough for a short sleeve.

I didnt expect my swim to be that great considering my lack of swimming over the past 4 months but I did expect to be able to get through the 750m fairly easily. Apparently, I did OK after seeing the results but it wasnt great by any means. I think it was longer than 750m but by how much, I dont know. My time was around 19 minutes. The wind picked up and after we turned broadside to it, the chop made it hard to breathe to the right.

My T1 time was slow as the TZ was set up on dirt and running from the water along that surface made me take a couple minutes longer to clean my feet and put my socks on (road tri's I never wear socks). Because of the amount of walking I was going to have to do, I debated whether to put on my ankle brace or not but adrenaline was surging and I just wanted to get on my "tank" and ride.

The bike ride was tough, coming straight out of the TZ into a lengthy climb then a short downhill followed by the climb called "Dave's Outhouse"....not sure why. It was around 23-28% grade and even some of the pro's had to walk it I heard. At the top of that 200m section (might have been 50m but it seemed long), you got to mount your bike for a short DH section then back up a 20% grade then down another short hill, very loose, to a 110 degree turn to the right and back up another hill.

This was the section I had been up all night dreaming about. Should I ride it or shouldnt I? I got down most of the hill then saw heaps of people going SLOOOOOOOOOOOW down in front of me and I decided that I would walk the steep part which I think was around 20-22% grade.

AFter that section, the really hard part was over and I settled in for the pain of the rest of the ride. A couple of steep hills which were rideable, a river bed which I didnt ride, and some fun single track right next to the lake. I wish they would have had more of this type of riding as it is what I am best at, technical single track with some rocks and roots, but alas, we were in the desert and that wasnt an option I suppose.

T2 was slow. I changed socks, put my ankle brace on, and tied my shoes while standing ( I usually sit down but I didnt feel like sitting down in the dirt and my back was beginning to seize). I left T2 and was running but it was down hill so it was easy. I ran for less than 200m then walked up, up, and more up. The run course was pretty much up hill to the turnaround then all down hill to the finish line. It was pretty uneventful except I got to see some of the pro's and the fast age groupers descending one of the hills on the MTB course. They made it look easy. I walked from the turn around, down a steep hill, then started jogging down the less steep section, up another hill, then all down to the finish. There wasnt much fanfare at the line (at least not as much as I expected) but since there were only 350 or so competitors, I guess it was OK. I crossed the line, got my finisher medal and went back to the car. I dropped my MTB off with the place I got it from; Im happy they were a sponsor so I didnt have to get dear old mom to haul this monster back to the shop in Vegas.

The host resort let the competitors use their pool which was very nice, so I got my gear, left mom with a book sitting in the shade, and I went swimming. The water was cold but welcoming as my feet were on fire. I had some gravel rash from the day before and this gal asked if I was OK.....truth be told, I was feeling very lightheaded and a little dizzy but I just smiled and said something about falling down while playing on my bike. I sat in the water for a few then sat down on a lounge chair and the dizziness was not going away. I got up, got dressed, and went and found mom. I needed food apparently.....first time this year, racing in heat and dry weather caught up with me. I thought I had enough calories in me but it wasnt til after I ate and had no more strange feelings, did I realize I was wrong.

Things I learned from my first XTERRA: a short MTB ride can be one hell of a lot harder than a long road ride; running up hill with foot drop, not so easy, running down the same hill with foot drop and a leg that doesnt catch up very quickly, really hard; racing in the desert requires more fuel intake than you think, especially if you train in the rain forests of the Pac NW; riding a rental bike isnt so bad unless it weighs 30lb but it was lots cheaper than bringing my own bike.

I highly recommend it to all triathletes..... come on Meyrick, you know you want to try it. The only other PC athlete in the race was BK. He did the bike course twice in 1:40, I did one lap in 1:15.