Time for the Minuteman Tri. This was the 2nd race of the year (after Pine Barrens), and was a sprint, so it was very low pressure. I was just getting into my training stride for the Half Ironman in October, so this was really just a glorified training session. Not a lot of pressure. Just go out and see how I can do.
We got to the course at a decent time, and headed toward registration. The line was very long, and continued to grow even after we got there. Surely they'd have to delay the start, judging by how slowly the line was moving. I finally got to the registration table, and I found that I got a really great race number (and, subsequently, a great bike rack spot). Turns out they put me into the elite wave. I'm not elite, so I started to think it was a mistake. Turns out I got the position because I had done so well in the Whaling City Tri the year before that they automatically put me into the elite wave. Sweet. The elite wave was first, but oddly, it was full of other not-quite-elites. Even some first-timers. Weird. In any case, I was excited to be in the first wave. Felt a little like a celebrity.
The race began quickly enough. The swim start was quick, and I was out and moving, feeling very good. Since it was such a small wave, there wasn't a lot of bumping around with other athletes. I felt strong the entire time, and I think it showed. I was 2nd out of the water. Not too bad. I grabbed my bike quickly and was off and riding. I ended up being the 1st guy out of transition and onto the bike course. I got moving, and came to the first intersection. The road veered left, so I followed it, and kept cranking. There was 1 guy behind me who was close to catching me, but I still cranked hard, riding really strong.
It felt really lonely at the front. Almost as if nothing was happening behind me. We kept riding, and hit a turn with some volunteers. We took the left turn and kept riding. Finally, he caught me (bib 898), and shortly after we hit a traffic light, with no volunteers or cops to direct traffic. We had done something wrong. We started talking, and both agreed that we missed something somewhere. We made it back to the turn with the volunteers and asked them. They had no idea. We doubled all the way back, about 16 miles later, and realized that we had taken the first intersection incorrectly. We had gotten out too quickly, and the volunteers hadn't had time to get to the first intersection to direct traffic. Ouch. I was feeling so good. Up to that point I was moving strong and thought I'd be able to place.
Oh well. Might as well get a run in. We took it easy into transition, and the other guy who went the wrong way was yelling and making a huge fuss about it, but whatever. I threw my shoes on and headed off. It was a nice run. I felt pretty good, probably because the pressure was off, and the last half of my ride was somewhat leisurely. Still got a good pace going.
I finished, then went and found the race director and told him I wanted to disqualify myself since I had veered so far off course. He was very understanding, realizing that it was their fault for not having any volunteers on the race course soon enough. He offered to let me race for free in any of their other races that season. I thought that was pretty nice, and pretty fair.
I ended up taking him up on the offer, as I signed up for Whaling City.
It was a no pressure race anyway. Though I would've liked to see if I was going to place. I like to think that I would have.
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