#108 Tigershark Daytona Mid-sprint Tri

Great race today! This was the Mid-distance sprint at Tigershark's venue in Daytona Beach Shores. The Seminole County Triathletes came out in force as Tracey, Becky, and I raced and Billy, Deanna, Walter, Cathy, and Leigh cheered us on. Walter got some great photos!

My 600 yard swim was quick at 11:52, much better than last year's 18:27 with 5' waves. I managed to beat my friend and fellow Maddog, Randy Brown, out of the water, but he started nibbling away at my lead, passing me on the bike. I upped my bike pace from last year's 20.8 AVS to 21 for this leg.

Randy's strong run ended with me 2:02 behind him for second place. My final time was 1:18:06. Jan Thompson (Maddog #27) won her age group again, finishing just behind Tracey.

First 200 Miles

This morning I passed the 220 mile mark with my new 'snow' bike, a Salsa Mukluk. The majority of my rides, ranging from 5 to 18 miles, have been in Wekiwa Springs State Park, across from my house. I travelled locally to other venues and after I sampled the Seminole State Forest, the Upper Wekiva Preserve, and Rock Springs Run State Preserve, I found that Wekiwa Springs had the widest variety of trails, hills, lakes, ponds, and fire roads anywhere nearby. The best part is that it's so close and very big. I've seen deer, black bears, fox squirrels, a bobcat, owls, rabbits, a gopher, tortoises, a bee tree, and an alligator gar in the river. One thing I almost never see is people. I often ride before or after work on the weekdays but nobodies around. Here are a selection of photos from my rides; click on any to enlarge it.

# 107 Tigershark Daytona Sprint Triathlon

Rob Wallace's Tigershark Triathlon Series at Daytona Beach Shores is always a well run group of races and this year's first one was no exception. The races increase in length each month so it adds to the challenge, plus changing surf conditions always add some spice to the swim. Sandy rose at 4:00 AM with me to greet the sunrise on Daytona Beach. We met some old friends in transition and I readied myself for the 7:00 AM start.

There was some overcast skies at the gun but the waves were calm with a very low tide so there was little north/south current.

The bike leg on A1A was fast and flat with a small breeze from the south. The tailwind on the return allowed me to crank my max speed to 25.6 with a final average of 20.4. I shot out of transition for the new run course with the continuing overcast keeping temps down. The new beach run now has two turnarounds so I was keeping an eye out for my competition. My mile splits for the run were 7:34 with a final finish time of 1:00:34. My tri-run times are always faster than my running races alone. This was good enough for first out of three in my age group.

Fellow Mad Dog Jan Thompson also won her age group with her son picking up second as a Clydesdale. Another great race!

# 106 Orlando Triathlon at Baldwin Park

Today was the perfect day for a race; 70s, no wind, calm water, flat course, lots of people, at a local venue. Baldwin Park is a new urban community about 3 miles east of my office in downtown Orlando on the site of the old Navy Base. Epic Marketing was putting on this race for the seventh year. It features an unusual multiple lap bike leg which is 5 times around the lake, followed by a 1 lap run.
I started out strong on the 750 meter swim and then charged out on the bike. With all the people on the course at once, it adds to the challenge but it feels great to be passing people constantly. I finished with an average speed of 21.7 and followed with a fast run at a 7:37 mile pace. My final time was 1:14:05, good for 2nd out of 6 in the 55-59 age group.

New Salsa Mukluk - First Ride!

A few years back, I was at Orange Cycle when Orlando bike doyen Diane Blake, arrived with an amazing new bicycle, a Surly Pugsley. It's a snow bike from Minnesota that does equally well in sand. I thought, "What a perfect bike for Wekiwa Springs State Park's sandy trails". So for about 2 years, I have been saving for my own snow/sand bike. After gathering small work bonuses and ebay sales, it finally added up and on Monday, May 2nd, a new Salsa Mukluk arrived. I put it together the next evening and was riding around neighbors' lawns at 10:15 that night. I was really looking forward to Sunday in the Park!

Mother's Day morning at 7:00 AM I entered the park, filled with nervous anticipation. My last foray in there with a Gary Fisher mountain bike (1999) resulted in many spills and the sale of the Fisher at the following month's Orange Cycle Garage Sale. I hit the first trail 1 mile from my house and immediately started a sharp uphill climb, scattering 9 deer on my way up. About 5 minutes later, I was hooked; the Mukluk was perfect for the sandy trails! About 3 miles later I decided to turn off the fireroads and try a singletrack trail. The bike excelled at the technical stuff too, bouncing over roots and obstacles with ease. I rode up toward Otter Camp, the furthest camp in the park, at the 6 mile point. I passed Big Buck Camp which was occupied with a family (Happy Mother's Day!) and waved as I continued on. Otter Camp was empty so I stretched my legs and took some photos. Both of these camps are on Rock Springs Run, which funnels into the Wekiva River.

After a break, I backtracked and explored a trail I had never run down before. I was surprised when it dead-ended at a fence on the border of Kelly Park, the very north end of Wekiwa. I turned south and stopped again 2 miles later at a trail crossing. I was then surprised by 3 mountain bikers, William, Paul, and Tony. We chatted briefly and I let them lead out and followed behind. We separated after a bit and I saw them in the distance on another cross trail later. I went through the dreaded "sugar sand" 5 times but only had to walk through it twice. I'm sure that will improve. The best part of the ride was never falling once. I returned home with a total of 15.6 miles and the conclusion that this bike is amazing!

SCT Lake Monroe Bike & Run

Saturday started with a 10 person Seminole County Triathletes Meetup at D2 Cycling in Sanford at 7:00 AM. We took off for a 33 mile bike around Lake Monroe. A little extension of the course took us down some empty country roads.

Everyone laughed when we passed a "Lost Pig" sign by a mailbox. Upon our return, 6 of us ran the D2 2.7 mile loops, some twice, some 3 times; Deanna and I did 7.25 miles. It got quite hot near the end in the bright sunshine. Good workout: it's nice to have D2 as a place to meet.

Easter Sunday @ Lucky's Lake!

Dr. Lucky invited everyone to his home for an Easter sunrise service, lake swim, and pancake breakfast. An amazing 172 people showed up for the 7:00 AM service! Everyone packed away pancakes after a 1 or 2 kilometer swim and my wife Sandy made dozens of omlets for all. Great time!
Read more about Lucky's Lake at my July 2010 blog or go to the link on my home page.