yeah for a fun race! you go girl! *I love it when I get to say that*
you have a Softride with bar end shifters... that is so incongruous, it's great! Most races I have seen (with timer mats at all) have the mats at entrance and exit to transitions, so you get split and transition times completely separately (and sometimes have door prizes for fastest transitions).
They actually make tri-specific bike shoes that are made to be worn barefoot (no tonge to get mushed up when a wet foot is stuffed in, seamless neoprene liner so no skin rubbing, etc) and have straps that open away from the drivetrain so you can get into them as you start riding with the shoes already waiting for you on your pedals, and not get tangled up in process. I have friends who have em (not me), I have never even messed with the shoes pre-clipped into the pedals thing - I just sit and put on my socks and change shoes. I am not competitive in any way and that little sitting to put on shoes breather always helps me a lot.
I think it was the very last bar-end-shifter Softride that was made, in '99 or so -- as in, it was the only non-STI shifter model they made that year, and the next year it was gone. :)
I don't know about leaving the shoes clipped on to the pedals! That seems like it would take me longer than sitting down and velcroing them, actually. Crazy!
I don't know if it's magical thinking, but I've surely thought things along those lines, albeit less unrelated. "If I can just get around this curve on Mt. Wachusett, I will [see that great view again/get to the top/not die]." Or whatever. But there does seem to be a point at which -- as long as you can keep brainwashing yourself to meet intermediate goals -- the ridiculous awfulness of the long-term goal can be put out of mind.
Man, I wish triathlons didn't involve swimming. I might actually be convinced to try one in that case ;). But ukeleles don't swim.
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I'm totally envious!
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you have a Softride with bar end shifters... that is so incongruous, it's great! Most races I have seen (with timer mats at all) have the mats at entrance and exit to transitions, so you get split and transition times completely separately (and sometimes have door prizes for fastest transitions).
They actually make tri-specific bike shoes that are made to be worn barefoot (no tonge to get mushed up when a wet foot is stuffed in, seamless neoprene liner so no skin rubbing, etc) and have straps that open away from the drivetrain so you can get into them as you start riding with the shoes already waiting for you on your pedals, and not get tangled up in process. I have friends who have em (not me), I have never even messed with the shoes pre-clipped into the pedals thing - I just sit and put on my socks and change shoes. I am not competitive in any way and that little sitting to put on shoes breather always helps me a lot.
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I don't know about leaving the shoes clipped on to the pedals! That seems like it would take me longer than sitting down and velcroing them, actually. Crazy!
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that second one you mentioned is kinda olympic distance with an extra long bike ride
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Man, I wish triathlons didn't involve swimming. I might actually be convinced to try one in that case ;). But ukeleles don't swim.
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I *like* water. I just don't *swim* in it.
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