Race Coverage

Kingswood Off Road Tri Stuff...

Friday, 26 August 2011 03:00

By Sean Pease

Race Coverage - It was a beautiful and crisp Saturday morning. Light rain clouds shimmered in the distance out and beyond the horizon. Sun glowing behind the clouds. As I exited the hotel that morning I knew, despite anything else, it would be an ideal day to race.

Kingswood Off-Road Triathlon is one of the state's only true off road triathlons. I was stoked that this was my first try at such a thing, and more importantly, my first triathlon of the season (being a race director assistant keeps me from racing as much as I'd like). I loaded up the car and headed west toward Minnetrista...where ironically my wife grew up, and a city which holds a little slice of heaven on Little Long Lake, Kingswood Camp....

On my way to the race I started seeing more and more vehicles with mountain bikes attached...the smell of dirt, sweat, and lake water quickly filled my soul. A car passed me in the sane lane and as I glanced over i noticed it was my good friends Rocky and Brenda. I talked Rocky into racing Kingswood with me, which was his first triathlon ever, and I was excited to see his smiling face as he passed me on the freeway. We caravaned in from there.

As we approached the registration area for the race you could see the grills all set up for the BBQ that would follow the race, the volunteers an race organizers were helping hand out race packets and going through the last minute details. There is something about getting handed your race bag, sifting through it to find your number, then heading over to get body marked...it's the beginning of a story that is yet to unfold and could end in so many different ways. So we got our 'stuff' and parked our vehicles down int he field near transition.

The race announcer was counting down the minutes to the mandatory pre-race meeting so we decided to go check out the lake, which was hidden behind the big, mature, trees...down the hill traversing through some single track terrain. What a beautiful sight to see Little Long Lake filled up with markers and buoys, I felt a rush through my body as we were getting closer to race time

I chatted with some people, most of whom I did not know, and talked about races from earlier in the year. We shared stories of racing, races and laughter. There were a lot of newbies in the crowd and everyone seemed to be loving the fact that they were there to share in something special. Then race director Jeremy Baker grabbed the microphone to let us know it was time to head down to the beach area. We all headed down winding through the woods and found ourselves floating in the water, which felt surprisingly crisp, and ready for a deep water mass start. And we are off! SWIM....

The swim was a half mile rectangular course that we traveled clockwise then finished back on the beach. I felt very comfortable in the water! This was the first time ever that I didn't freak out upon the mass start and kicking of fellow racers. That was a good sign...so I got into a groove and just enjoyed the sights of the tree lined shore and the warmth of the sun on my face. I'm not a super swimmer so I have just learned to get through it the best I can...but now I took a different approach and tried to take it all in as a new and cool experience...that seemed to help me huge.

As I approached the last portion of the swim and made my way to the beach area I was looking forward to exiting the water, making my way up the hill and transition to the bike course. I threw on my flip-flops, headed up the trail and into transition. I was relieved and a bit apprehensive as I saw my MTB in transition and noticed how many were already gone onto the bike course. A 10 mile mountain bike race is not an easy task, especially since I had been on much of the course the week leading up to race day. Oh boy, here we go...hang on and have fun, it's time to get dirty!

Out of transition, directly up a hill and you disappear into the woods. Just like that, in the blink of an eye...you are out of the water and you lose yourself in the sound of trees whizzing by you, the voices of other riders as they make their way, and the endlessness of nature...untamed and unadulterated.

The trails are gnarly single-track that rarely gets ridden...but are sweet as pie. It's off camber, hairpin turns make navigating a tough proposal. Many times I had to jump off my bike, push up a hill and around a corner just to keep forward movement. many of us were struggling out there and with no room to pass, you quickly find ways to be patient and encouraging to others in the same boat as you are. That's the name of the game in the off-road scene. Quite frankly the off-roaders are a uniquely patient crowd that love to have fun...even if it means losing a few seconds here and there.

The trail opens up here and again as you reach the campground areas of the park. From nasty, technical single track to weaving, rolling grassy trails. It was a nice change, and a change of pace as well. Speeding through the campsites and in and out of the wooded glory you soon come up to the actual Kingwoods Camp area. A small hill climb to the aid station, I stop for some HEED and quickly move on to the next stage of the course. I'm about halfway done with the bike portion and very ready to get to the run. As I race across the campground the trail quickly changes from hard pack gravel to a quick left turn straight up a hill and back into the woods. As I move toward the entrance to the woods, knowing of the hill just around the corner, I brace to change gears and hit the hill with a vengeance. unfortunately my derailleur wasn't ready for such an abrupt maneuver. As the gears crunched, the hanger was maxxed and the chain stretched....SNAP! Broken chain....ughhhhhhh. My race was over, just like that.

I tried to hold back the anger (and the tears) as I exited the woods back towards the volunteers who were helping direct bikers on the course. I got the chain dislodged from my rear cassette, picked up my bike and headed 1.2 miles back to the transition area with the feeling of defeat. My goals were to simply race my race, give it my best shot, have tons of fun and enjoy the journey. The race had ended, but my journey had just begun.

As I made my way back to transition I was mournfully greeted by spectators, volunteers, and Race Director Jeremy Baker. he knew i was stoked to race this race and felt UBER bad that i had a mechanical failure. Stuff happens. i quickly asked Jeremy if he would allow me to still run the course...he, of course, had zero issue with that so I slipped on my running shoes and waited for the cue to head out onto the course.

As I was waiting I got to cheer in the first mountain bikers that were coming in off the course. Some solid looking performers were heading into T2 and ready to rock the run. Not to my total surprise, my great friend Rocky came rolling out of the woods in fourth place, not too terribly far behind the front runners. As it turns out he was actually sitting in third as the 2nd place individual was part of a relay team. I cheered him on the best I could (and he was wondering what the hell I was doing at this stage of the race) and let him head out to race his race. if I hadn't mentioned before, Rocky is 54 years young and part mountain goat. he can crush hills on bike or on foot and generally wins his age group in most events he tackles. Just a week before he had ran a half marathon trail race near San Fransisco (which is not flat) and won his age group there too. He rocks a s a friend, and really rocks in the trails!

Soon thereafter I (photo R) was off on my run. No time to worry about, just me and my own, new adventure. A different journey than I thought i would be having, but I embraced it completely. The run course is very much the same as the first half of the bike course. Unrelenting and off camber single track love. I ran hard, and efficiently the whole 4 miles and loved every second of it. As I passed people I reassured them that I was actually out of the race but just running for fun, running for me! They all told me good job and I was on my merry way. As I got to mile 3 of the 4 mile run course my body felt good and energized (most likely because I only got 4 miles in on the MTB) and as the trail merged with the road I kicked it in overdrive...I had nothing to lose. I continued toward the finish line and everyone was cheering, I actually felt rather bad since I was done racing and just out for a run at this point. I thanked every course marshal/volunteer and spectator for coming out and helping, they rocked. I turned off the road up the trail and could see the finish line gantry ahead and as i approached I told myself i couldn't actually cross that line, so I didn't. Fans and volunteers were yelling at me to finish and I just had to shake my head. Jeremy came over to give me a high five and a handshake and thanked me for coming out. What a great guy he is!! As I approached the pavilion area where they were cooking burgers, brats and hot dogs I noticed Rocky's girlfriend, Brenda, giving me the "#1" signal. I wasn't sure exactly what she was trying to say, so i moved in closer and heard her say that Rocky had actually won the whole race! I couldn't believe it and I was so elated. That guy is my hero...and if I'm in half a good a shape as he is when I'm 54 I will consider myself lucky! Nice job Rockstar!

We hung out after the race, cheering on the individuals who where still finishing and had some good chats and great food. I learned something about myself this day...in what would have normally been a disappointment turned into a journey of victory, for me. This is what true passion is made of...when things don't go your way and you make the best of it. Wise words once spoken to me when i first began my multi sports journey: "There is NO perfect race!" It's as simple as that! Happy trails and big props to everyone who raced Kingswood Triathlon, Jeremy Baker and Crew...and the folks at Kingswood Camp! - SP

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