It was a muddy one my friends. Rain in the early morning hours, rain driving in, and rain during registration and transition setup. But, just as we were in the water getting ready for the start, the rain stopped and bits of blue sky emerged. Whew, the NC mountains in the summer.
Still, I love the races that Gone Riding puts on. Reasonable fees, laid back, and in the woods.
If you’re reading this, you may already know that Xterra Tsali uses a swim, run, bike order and two transition areas. Don’t forget this or show up late! It’s quite a walk/jog/bike between T1 and T2, and if you forget something at one area it’s gonna chew up some time just getting setup. I saw folks pulling up at close to 7:30am (in the rain), and I’m not sure how they could get both transitions setup, and gear ready with any level of low stress.
Swim was nice. Water temp was not wetsuit legal – I didn’t catch the actual temp, but the water was perfect for swimming. The start, and first couple hundred meters, seemed a bit more chaotic than usual, but it was likely due to my position in the crowd.
Run was muddy! Water was on the trail the entire time. Puddles were squishy and hills were slick.
Bike was muddy! Only a few sections were reasonably drained. My clear bike glasses had too much mud on them to see after less than a mile, but if I took them off mud was hitting me in the eyes. Ended up wearing them like reading glasses low on my nose so I could see above them, and then lift my head when the mud began to spatter with the glasses acting as a shield. Tough to focus on going fast, for sure. Riding along, riding along.. oh wait, this is a race!
June 24, 2018
800m swim, 4.5m (ish) run, 10m (ish) bike
Results here
Rain during setup – Xterra Tsali 2018
Sunshine peaking thru after the race – Xterra Tsali 2018
Martin and Me squeezing in on #1