XTERRA

Holy schnikies. I forgot how hard this race is. I'm not dead, which is good, but I'm as close as I've been since...well...LAST YEAR'S XTerra.


This year the water was warm enough to go without the wetsuit. I decided to go for it, as I don't especially enjoy wearing the bat-suit if I'm not fighting crime.

The crazy thing about XTerra is that it's the same distance as every other tri I've done. The only difference is that distance is ALL UPHILL. SERIOUSLY, WHAT KIND OF SADIST DESIGNED THIS COURSE!?! IT JUST KEEPS GOING UP AND UP!! Once your limp, battered body falls off the bike at T2 you find comfort in the fact that now all you have to do is a simple, relaxing 5K - BUT NO!!! IT'S UPHILL TOO! I HATE XTERRA! I #%@!& HATE IT!!!

Sorry about that. Just had a relapse of the bike ride.

No, XTerra was fun. Just to give you an idea of how hard this course is, the bike portion takes about 1:45. That's 20 minutes longer than the entire Bear Lake and Salem tris took me. Needless to say, I underestimated the course and it kicked my butt again, humbling me and making me see I'm not in as good of shape as I thought. I didn't puke and I finished with a decent time, but I'm still a little disappointed. Oh well - still good times.

Amy is great at taking candid, random shots of interesting people wherever we go; the type of people you look at and your mind automatically comes up with an entire backstory for. For example - this is Bosco. When not doing triathlon, Bosco enjoys whaling and flying his red WWI biplane, which has an Iron Cross and the handle "The Baron" on the side. Bosco is a fierce competitor, but someone you can relax and enjoy a mug of ale with at the local tavern once the race is over.

A pre-race shot, when I'm not yet covered with dirt and rank man-sweat and my wife and daughter don't recoil in disgust when I try to kiss them.

The fam. My brother Gid came out for this one, which was fun. I have no idea what we were talking about when this picture was taken.

Katie on the beach, take 3.

Me after the race. I've realized that all the tri pics I have are either before or after the race, which don't really convey the experience. Maybe I can get a helmet-cam going.

Having gotten sick last time I didn't get to experience everything that goes on during the bike ride. It is HARD CORE. People crashing, arguing, immobilized by exhaustion, passing and getting passed on a perilous, single-track trail. It also rained on us, making the rocks even slippier and more dangerous. I passed one racer just in front of a bridge who had a large gash in his forehead and blood running down his face, looking like like grim Death himself.

All in all XTerra was a lot of fun and I'm glad I did it again. Really I just wanted to prove to myself that I could. I do like the mountain bike portion of it - there's a thrill of danger and adreniline at each downhill portion that you don't get on a road bike.

I'm not sure if I'll do it again next year. While the challenge draws you in, it just gets too crowded at parts (in the swim and the bike). I prefer expending my energy in a triathlon doing the actual event, not worrying about having to pass or get passed during the bike or dodging other swimmers. Great location though.