2022 Mountain Lakes Race Report: "Do You Need Emergency Assistance?"

"Do you need emergency assistance?"

... a stranger said after getting my attention while tapping on the window of my car within which I was sound asleep. Upon being awaken, a phrase that didn't fit at first, I struggled with figuring out how to open the car window so I could talk to the person. I explained to them that I did not need assistance and thanked them for their concern. 

The Backstory

Two weeks ago, I finished the Chattanooga Waterfront Olympic Triathlon and immediately flew off to San Francisco the afternoon of the race to attend a conference there. My wife joined me on the last day of the conference and we stayed another week touring San Francisco, Santa Rosa, and the wineries in Sonoma county. While there, I discovered that cold water means something different to athletes in San Francisco. There were swimmers in the bay pictured below near the Golden Gate Bridge in 54º water! 

And, just to set the tone for visiting the wineries here a picture from one of our favorite visits to the Viszlay Winery. The owner and his daughter sat with us and we chatted like we were visiting family and I became quite fond of their Five Vines red blend. 

We took a red-eye, 3 transfers/4 flights trip home and arrived on Friday around mid-day. This race was the next day. We were tired given the crazy flight schedule and the restless sleep one gets on a red-eye. So, we went to bed for a wee nap. Well, I woke up at about 10:30 pm and realized that all of my race stuff was in the basement and in the condition it was left in by my friends Sophia and Travis after the race in Chattanooga. They had rode up to that race with me in my car. Sophia and I raced. They dropped me off at the Chattanooga airport and brought my car, my bike and other stuff, themselves and their stuff back to Birmingham after that race. I'll spare you the story of missing the first day of the conference as a flash storm took power out at the Chattanooga airport leading to me missing my connection in Detroit. Note, "storms" could be a secondary theme to this post.

So, here I am up at 10:30 pm, in the basement, gathering and inventorying my stuff in prep for the race. I washed and lubed my bike, installed the bike rack, put the bike on it, and so on. Somewhere around 1:00 am, I realized that if I tried to catch any sleep and awake at 3:15 am for my journey to Guntersville, Alabama to arrive at 5:30 am, I would most likely sleep right through it. The trip takes about 1 hour and 40 minutes. So, I stayed awake. 

The excitement didn't end there, however. about 10-15 miles away from the race location I came upon a wreck scene that was blocking all traffic. I had no time to spare as once I arrived on site, I had to set up my transition area and be out of the transition area by 6:30 am. And, that time included packet pickup, parking, and such. So, I look on the Google maps on my phone and the next route to the race start looks to be a 20 miles or more of detour on country roads. I chatted for a few minutes with a driver that was waiting with the rest of us. I shared my dilemma and he told me all I had to do was turn-around and take a right at the first road and continue to a road I had spotted in my own search, but nearer to my destination that the route I had spotted. I took his work for it, left Waze pointing at my destination, turned about, and took the first right. I rode for about 8 miles on a dirt road. Note, my bike is on a rack that connects to the car via a tow hitch, you know, not far off the ground, right behind the rear wheels. But, it works; I arrive on time, but with a very dusty bike. Dusty drive-chain, at a race, NICE!

I had packed a cooler with way more water than I needed, so I rinsed off the bike, especially the drive-chain and earned a few "shouldn't you have washed that at home" comments from fellow racers. I picked up my packet, applied my race number via the provided temporary tattoos, set my bike up with all the stuff needed to transition from swim to bike and bike to run by 6:30. Now, we are ready for race start with a 7:00 am swim start. But, the adventurous nature of race day is not over yet!

After a couple of racers entered the water to begin the race, like less than 2 minutes into the race, we see lightening and hear thunder. So, the swimmers are called back, and the race is delayed. Shortly after that the storm unloads on us. The race is delayed until nearly 8:30; my swim start time was 8:39 am. By this time, the race which began with an Olympic and Sprint distance option was now a Sprint distance for everyone. I was registered for the Olympic distance. But, c'est la vie, I will give it my all for the shorter distance. 

So, I finish the race, chin wag with friends, grab some food, then go to get my stuff out of transition and pack up the car for the trip home with the intention to return to watch the award ceremony. Well, I succeed at packing up the car, but thought I would get in enjoy some air-conditioning and catch up with email and social media. Predictably, I fall asleep. I really don't know how long I was asleep, but the parking lot was pretty empty when I opened up my eyes thanks to the tapping on the window. I felt fine at the point, so I put the car in gear and drove home. It was a good day!

The Results

July 9, 2022: Mountain Lakes Tri Guntersville, AL - Olympic Sprint Time: 1:43:28
a	Swim	Distance: .600 Yards Time: 15:47
	Transition	Time: 2:11
	Cycle	Distance: 16.2 Miles Time: 49:17 Rate: 19.7
	Transition	Time: 2:07
	Run	Distance: 3 Miles Time: 34:04 Pace: 11:21
	Weather	Mostly Cloudy Temperature: 74-8° Humidity: 90%

History

Year	Swim	T1	Bike	T2	Run	Total
2009	19:08	3:05	47:04	1:55	25:16	1:36:25
2010	12:23	2:08	45:58	2:58	31:32	1:34:59
2011	14:25	2:43	46:49	1:30	26:24	1:31:51
2016	14:41	2:03	48:08	1:45	29:07	1:35:46
2022	15:47	2:11	49:17	2:07	34:04	1:43:28