Du the 2 Race Report

This is going to be a preliminary race report since I'm still waiting for all my splits, but I wanted to get my thoughts down on paper.


Du the 2 was my third duathlon in my still very young multisport/cycling lifestyle.  I was looking forward to this race for a long time for a few reasons:

1) It was to be my longest duathlon to date, 2 mile run, 26 mile bike, 4 mile run...twice as far as my other two Duathlons.  This was also advertised as the largest Duathlon in the Mid-Atlantic region despite being in its first year.  With over 500 registered athletes, that was more than twice the size of my previous two races combined!

2) The bike course was awesome, all rolling hills.  I rode it many times leading up the event and was excited to finally hit it during a race.  Even though the race is over, I'll continue riding in that area regularly because it is so good for road cycling.

3) A bunch of people from my main running team, Back on My Feet were doing the race.  For many, it was their first multisport event.  For a couple of others, it was one of many, though the first we were competing together.

4) My new cycling team, Adventures for the Cure was also going to be there.  If you have not heard of them, you should look them up.  The group was founded by two college roommates to raise awareness for diabetes.  Three of them went on a 6000 mile bike ride across the country on fixed single gear bikes (no coasting) to raise awareness.  Truly awesome...

The forecast was not looking very favorable.  There was a 50% chance of thunderstorms, and it had actually rained the night before.  If this were just a running race, it would be fine.  However, rain can make bike races quite dangerous.  Thankfully, there was no additional rain.  It just proved warm and humid, reaching nearly 80 degrees by the race start of 7am.  We have overcast skies though, which certainly helped.


The first two mile run was a very hilly looped course and I felt strong the whole way.  I went toe-to-toe with the person I knew would win the whole thing.  He is ever so slightly faster than me at running, but he is also a maniac on the bike, and I knew I would have no shot.  Despite getting to transition first (~10:50 for the first run), I was probably about the 5th guy out.  I still have no idea what happened.  I did not do anything different than last time and didn't fumble too much.  I think I was just outclassed by people who knew what they were doing.

Regardless, I ran out (pretty fast in cycling shoes) and got on the bike in about 5th or 6th place.  Now, I should say that this race did not have a mass start, but rather a wave start based on age groups.  Therefore, my exact position for the whole race was tough to tell, so any positional report is really just based on my wave position.  Youngest did get to go first though...

The 26 mile bike course was two loops, so I knew we would run into a lot of lap traffic on the second loop.  I decided to enjoy the wide open roads while I could.  I got passed by about 4 or 5 cyclists the entire time.  I'm not sure of the exact number though.  Most had triathlon (aka aerodynamic) bikes, or at least aero bars on their road bike, allowing the rider to get into a more aerodynamic and faster position for flats and downhills.  I've already decided to upgrade my road bike a bit to make it better for these races.  I can't afford a dedicated aero bike at the current time, but new wheels and aero bars should help me a bit.  More on that later.

Knowing the course since I rode it so many times proved to be a great asset.  I knew just how long every hill was and how sharp every turn was.  I hit the course as hard as I could without anything held back.  There was one rather dicey moment early in the race though.  The course was still damp from the previous night's rains.  Though there were no massive puddles, there was still enough water to get my tires, brake tracks, and brake pads wet.  Wet brakes means less stopping power and wet tires (especially paper thin road tires) means significantly less grip.  It can make braking quite tricky.  I was approaching a turn and planned on taking it aggressively as I have started doing.  However, I misjudged the turn a bit and realized I was probably coming in too fast to hold the line, especially with the slick ground.  So I decided to brake just a bit to get my speed under control.  I'm not sure if I hit the brakes too hard, or if the water played a roll, but my front wheel locked up.

When that happens, the tendancy is for the bike to lean forward with the rider getting tossed over the handle bars.  Since I ride with clip in pedals though, my feet stayed engaged with the pedals and my rear wheel momentarily lifted off the ground as I came out of the saddle.  The moment I knew what was happening I released the brakes and pointed the handle bars forward.  Going straight when you lose control is your best bet because the tires get maximum grip that way.  When my wheel hit the ground again I fish tailed a bit, but I managed to regain control.  The whole white knuckled event lasted about 5-10 seconds.  The volunteer and police officer at the intersection gasped, so at least I put on a show for them.  I did end up crossing the double yellow line during the incident, but no officials were around to assess a penalty, so it was all good.  Despite the incident, I was not gun shy the rest of the way, I just used my brakes less and took the turns harder, trusting my cornering ability more.  The course also dried out a bit by the second loop.

My entire bike race was centered around two other cyclists who I tried to stay with.  One rider had a road bike with areo bars and was one tough SOB because he hit everything hard with reckless abandon.  I was a stronger hill climber than him but he hit everything else so hard and got out of his saddle frequently for extra power a lot.  Another cyclist on a triathlon bike passed me late on the first loop but never really put significant distance on me.  He would pull away on downhills and flats but I always got right back on him on the hills.

We had to all contend with lap traffic on the second loop and ended up riding mostly on the left which you are only supposed to do when passing in multisport events.  However, with the large line of riders, it was perfectly acceptable.  Though, this caused multiple issues.  First, since there were a lot of first timers out there, people were unintentionally blocking riders on the lead lap.  I had to yell "on your left" quite a few times.  It can get dicey when you're riding nearly 10mph faster and overtaking people quickly.  Unfortunately, not everyone moved out of the way either, requiring me to "bend the rules" and ride on the double yellow line.  Theoretically, the other riders would be called for a blocking penalty if officials were around (there were officials on motorcycles and penalties were handed out, so always follow the rules at these big events!).

My second issue was with that tri-bike rider.  As the 2nd loop wore on, he was clearly getting tired.  I could see him coasting just a bit longer after each uphill.  I was also coming up just behind him on many of the hills, but keeping my 3 bike length distance.  Passing him would not have made much sense because he would have just passed me right back after the hill.  With all the lap traffic around us, there was no room anyway since we were both out on the left passing people.

As we closed in to the final few miles, I decided I was going to pass him.  I had been tearing up the bike course up to that point and knew I was going to pay for it on the second run.  Without knowing what would happen post-transition, I was pretty sure I would need to pass the tri-bike before the bike course ended.  As we went up the final hill, I once again pulled to within 3 bike lengths of him.  After the crest, I pedaled harder to keep my speed up and stayed with him.  As I waited for my moment, I got real fired up after cheering for the leader (who was already on his second run) and getting cheered by a friend on his first bike loop.  With the adrenaline flowing at the point and a gap, I laid down a massive sprint.  I never bothered to look at my computer, but a few people told me afterwards that I was cranking it hard.

I overtook and blew past the tri bike.  As we hit the final downhill I continued to put distance on him despite his aero advantages.  I even caught up to the other road biker with aero bars.  I averaged nearly 21 mph according to my computer, which was awesome considering back in early July, without running beforehand, I barely managed 19.9.  After dismounting (and almost falling), I ran in, racked my bike, switched to the running shoes and ran off to try and catch that road cyclist for good.

Only problem was, my legs were finished.  The hilly 4 mile run certainly did not help.  I was also completely drenched in sweat.  I never caught the other runner, but did not get passed either.  Without splits, I don't know what my second run time was but it certainly felt slow.  I managed to cross the line in about 1:55, for a win in my age group (25-29) and a ~13th place overall; still waiting for the official results.

Overall, it was an awesome and challenging race.  I felt strong on the bike the whole way (taking a bottle of Gatorade helped).  All the bike miles and riding with faster people are slowly starting to pay off.  I still have lots of room to improve on the bike, but I'm heading in the right direction.  For that second run, other than just training (I found a triathlon club that does run-bike-run workouts complete with racks to keep your bike in between), I think eating on the bike will help.  The Gatorade certainly kept me sharp for the bike leg, but I was just completely exhausted for the run.  Part of that was just because I took the bike all out, without worrying about the run.  However, a gel or two might do the trick, especially since I can consume more on the bike without getting sick (compared to running).  My cycling jersey has pockets, but they are hard to get to while riding fast.  I'll have to invest in a little bag that sits on top of the frame to hold some food.  It also makes it very easy to stow trash (since dropping anything off your bike incurs penalties and disqualification).

Additionally, it's time to make my bike more aero.  I'm certainly getting stronger out there, but I will most likely never win a duathlon with a straight up road bike.  The road bike is a requirement for group rides and competitive cycling races (I want to get into bike racing a bit), so it is much more flexible than a triathlon bike.  It also handles corners and hills better.  However, as I said, you can't be the best with just a road bike!  Right now, I cannot afford an entire new triathlon bike.  Plus, just buying a tri bike won't do the trick anyway because I still have a lot of room to just improve my cycling legs (aka engine).  I do however have enough money to buy two upgrades that should help my bike leg a bit:

1) clip on aero bars
2) lighter AND more aerodynamic wheels.

The areo bars will give me a 4th riding position in addition to the 3 standard road bike positions (bar tops, hoods, and drops).  Whenever riding downhill or on flats where I don't need much braking or shifting, I can get into the aero bars and have more of a forward leaning and down position to cut through the wind better.  Though not as good as the aero position on a true triathlon bike (thanks to the seat angle of road bikes), it will still get the job done.  With more training on my part, the aero bars should at least help me to pass tri bikes that I catch up to on hills.

The wheels are rather interesting.  Aside from the frame, it is said that wheels have the second biggest effect on ride quality.  There is no doubt my bike is awesome, but the problem with the entry level Cannondale SuperSix is that they really went el-cheapo on the wheels.  My current wheels, Shimano RS-10s offer no aerodynamic advantage at all and weigh in at a fat and heavy ~1850 grams total.  By comparison, most low to mid range aerodynamic wheels are around 1700 grams.  Aero wheels sacrifice weight for a better profile and yet, reasonable aero wheels are lighter than my road bike wheels!  Truly a joke!  Mid range non-aero wheels are usually ~1500 grams from my research.

Of course, there are probably more wheel brands and varieties than there are bicycles, each offering advantages and disadvantages.  As you get more aero (deeper rims), you theoretically can cut through the wind better, but become more affected by cross winds.  It also becomes harder to go up hill with those heavier wheels.  Not to mention some wheel brands offer wheels that cost more than my entire bike.  Therefore, I'm looking at decently aero, stiff carbon wheels (~51 mm deep rims) that weigh in at about 1750 grams.  They will still be good enough for road racing and shouldn't be too affected by cross wind.  The wheels, Mavic Cosmic Carbone SLs are actually the standard wheel on the higher end Supersix.  After seeing the wheel in person, I'm convinced it is the one for me.

With my continued dedication to riding, these upgrades should hopefully give me more confidence to go after more riders (and tri bikes!) on the bike leg.  Sometime in the more distant future, if I get strong enough to contend for the top spots, then I'll take the plunge and invest in a triathlon bike.  Until then, I'll just keep grinding away!