On Saturday, The Second Wind was represented at the TrySports Mayo Lake Triathlon in Roxboro, NC by my good friend Jon Parks and I. This is the most affordable triathlon in the area put on by FS Series with a $30 entry fee. It was also a special race for Jon as he had family in the area and it was also the place where his parents were married. In fact, the bike course would actually pass the church.
Our day started early with a 3:45 am wake up call. After fixing a couple of bagels with peanut butter it was time to head out to pick up Jon for 4:30 am to head up to Roxboro. This was going to be our 4th triathlon of the season and our second open water swim event. Once we loaded the bikes on the rack, it was time to start our journey. We noticed as we were heading down the higway the full moon out in the clear sky. The clear sky we were seeing at this point was definitely not a preview of what was to come. More on that later.
Mayo Lake is approximately 10 miles north of Roxboro, not too far from the Virginia state line. As we arrived just before 6 am, FS Series was getting the final touches in place for the event. Once we parked and grabbed our gear, we headed over to the transition area to find our bike racks to begin the setup process. I was #31 and Jon was #147. Our racks were at opposite ends from each other.
As with all triathlons, it is still amazing to see the flurry of activity in the transition area. Everyone has their routines they go through for setting up. There were a lot of triathletes with tri specific bikes, road bikes and a few mountain bikes. I told Jon that it would be amazing to get an idea of the amount of money just in bikes that were in transition. If we had to guess, it has to be in the 6-figures!
- Transition area setup.
Once we were done setting up, we headed to get numbers written all over us at body marking. It only takes about 3 days to get that permanent marker off your body. Besides writing your competitor number on both arms and quads, they also write your racing age on your right calf. It is really interesting and amazing to see the ages of the competitors. We picked up our timing chips and ankle strap next. The chip is placed on your left ankle and provides your official splits for the race (swim, T1, Bike, T2 and run).
As we headed back down to transition, we chatted with other competitors. This is always a great aspect of these events. You get to talk with people who have raced the event before or maybe it is their first triathlon. Either way, great conversations.
Since neither Jon or I had been to this event before, we decided to check out the area. We wanted to get an understanding of where the end of the swim would be since we could not see the lake at this point. As we walked out of the transition, the first thing we noticed was the rocky soil and a rock path. There was a green astroturf mat covering the rock path to make it easier on the bottom of your feet, but it still hurt to walk on it. Past the astroturf mat we followed orange cones leading to the swim finish. As we followed this path, it became apparent that the transition from swim to bike was going to be long. Seemed to be at least 200 yards.
Once we got to the lake, it was as smooth as glass. As we turned around, we were amazed at the hill leading back to transition. That is just cruel after a 750 m lake swim. As we were walking back up the hill, I looked at Jon and told him I was a little winded just walking. The event organizations did add some mats on the ground to cover some of rocks which was going to help. When we got back to the transition area, Jon's mom arrived and we spent some time talking with her. As I got back to my bike rack, someone had placed their bike on the outer edge of the rack where I was setup. They took the liberty to move my transition bag. My bike was placed at the end of the rack where there was no room for another bike, but I was not going to let that bother me. Since Jon's mom was there, I asked her if I could leave my bag with her. She graciously said yes.
It was time to head to the start. From transition, it was about a .2 mile walk to the start and it was nothing but rocks the majority of the way. That caused for a slow, gingerly walk. Several athletes were already warming up in the water. Since it was close to our 8 am wave start, we did not have time to warm up. We just stretched until it was time to enter the water. This race only included four waves. We were in the first wave for men 39 and under. We were called to enter the warm water and the first thing you noticed was a slimy feeling on your feet. You could hear everyone around us making comments about it. Let's just say it was not the greatest feeling in the world. We were all ready to start so we could get away from touching the bottom. The race director counted us down and we were off. The first thing I noticed is you could actually see pretty well in the lake. You could see about 10 feet in front of you, which was helpful to avoid getting kicked. Everyone was jockeying for position in the first 200-300 m swim out to the turn buoy. I was getting hit and kicked every once in a while which made it difficult to get into a rhythm. Once I reached the turn buoy, it was a straight swim all the way to the finish. For some reason I had no one within 15 feet on either side of me. This let me get into a good rhythm all the way to the swim finish. Hopping up to exit the water, I took my cap and goggles off and made the journey up that hill. I took my time on the jog focusing on the ground to avoid any rocks. I got to transition, put on my socks, cycling shoes, helmet and grabbed my bike and I was off.
The bike course was a 16 mile loop of rolling hills with all right-hand turns. Within the first mile I noticed some really dark clouds. At that moment I did not think anything of it until it started to drizzle. That quickly turned into a heavy downpour that would proceed to last the remainder of the race. This made for an interesting bike course. As we made the second right on the course, we hit the steepest downhill section. I was in the aero position and looked down to see I was going 38 mph. It was at this moment my bike started to violently shake. I quickly moved my hands off the aero bars to the hoods to try and stabilize the bike. I could not control the bike at all as the handle bars and frame were shaking left and right uncontrollably. I thought something was wrong with my front tire, but as I looked down it appeared to be fine. I began to apply the brakes to try and regain control and that was not working. My assumption at that point was hydroplaning. At that moment I was simply doing all I could to hang on. I said a prayer asking God to get me through this without crashing because I felt for sure I was going down. Fortunately the Lord provided and allowed me to slow as I reached the bottom of the hill. Not sure what caused that to happen, but it definitely affected my ride for the remaining 12 miles. I was hesitant to try and push it for fear it would happen again. After gaining my composure, I continued on. The rain continued to fall and was intense at times. The worst stretch was crossing a bridge over Mayo Lake with about 4 miles to go. The rain was coming down so hard it felt like needles were hitting you. I turned and looked at the lake and there were white caps from the wind. A sense of relief came over me when I could see the transition area and the bike dismount line.
When I arrived at my bike rack. I proceeded to take the cycling shoes and helmet off. As I looked down at my running shoes I got a good laugh as there were puddles inside them from the rain. When I picked them up it felt like they weighed 3 pounds each. I did not even noticed how wet they were since I was already soaked. After putting the shoes on, grabbed my race belt and visor and it was time for the run.
The run was a 3 mile trail run. For this race, it was going to be a mud run. The first few hundred yards were on pavement and then you transition onto the trail. The trail was mostly a single lane trail. With the amount of rain received, it was extremely muddy and slippery in some if not most sections. You found yourself dodging mud, puddles and tree roots. The rain continued to come down in buckets and the thunder picked up in intensity. About halfway through the run there were some campsites and someone was cooking some bacon....boy that smelled good at the moment. As I came out of the woods and made a right hand turn, it was on to the finish. It was great to still see some people out there cheering us on in the conditions. Crossed the line an overall time of 1:42:07.
- Jon Parks and Brett Ciancanelli at the 2011 Mayo Lake Triathlon.
After I finished I waited with Jon's mom for him to finish. Once he finished, we both put on our shirts for The Second Wind. This was the first event that we had the shirts for so we took the opportunity to get a few photos in front of the finish line.
You can also read a recap from the race that Jon wrote on his website by clicking here.
So this triathlon wrapped up the tri season for both Jon and I. We are amazed to see the progress we have made over the past 8 months. We are already planning a schedule for 2012. In the meantime we will be preparing with The Second Wind for the Run to Rolesville 5K on November 5.
