Odds and Ends

I finally got my folding bike in the mail, and while I’ll admit that it’s awesome, I also have to note that riding every day in Manhattan is a Hell of an intense experience.  Between the cars, traffic lights, and the general lunacy of driving—or riding!—in the City, it’s been fun but maybe also a little more exciting than I would have preferred.  Also, I’d always thought of Manhattan as flat, but there are several long, low hills between my office and the train station on 125^th Street, and it’s a struggle for me to force myself not to attack them every time I come up to one.  Ugh.  So far, I’ve not managed to make it into the office without being drenched in sweat, but I have high hopes.

Speaking of riding, I did a triathlon last week, the Westport Minuteman Triathlon, and finished 7^th overall and 3^rd in my Age Group.  Not bad.   It was my second time in the Top 3 for my Age Group this season.  I was lucky because the race was short—shorter than a regular Sprint—and far more evenly balanced than normal.  Which is to say that the Swim was a full half-mile, but the Ride was only 5.5 miles, and the Run was only 2.2 miles.  So being 3^rd out of the water really helped me, and being middle-of-the-pack on the run didn’t hurt me nearly as badly as it usually does. 

Here are some stats, and in presenting them, I should note that the transition times aren’t broken out separately.  So T-1 is included in the Bike result and T-2 is included in the Run.

Swim (1/2 Mile): 10:58.  3/204 Overall; 1/16 Age Group.

Bike (5.5 Miles):  16.22.  11/193 Overall; 3/16 AG.

Run (2.2 Miles): 19:04.  81/181 Overall; 10/16 AG.

Total:  46:23.  7/181 Overall; 3/16 AG.

Don’t ask me why so many more folks finished the Swim than the Run.  Either they missed the cut-off time or dropped out of the race, but in a race that’s that short, either one of those seems weird to me. But it was a funky timing system, and the race itself was not over-burdened with administration, so who knows?

As a last note, I was on business in Schenectady, NY, last week (13-17 September), and WOW!  What a crappy town that is.  Class was boring, I got a pinch-flat on my bike on my first day in town, and all the bars and restraints were DEAD.  Hell, to be honest, it looked to me like half the buildings in town were vacant.  There was even a shooting outside the main hotel—the nicest place in town!—the night before I left.  Ugh.  Not fun.  But I’m home now, and all is well, and I suppose that’s all that matters.

How’re things with you?