Bear it All Tri er Du -postponed

Or Winter picked the wrong weekend to make an appearance. I was supposed to race in the Bear it All Triathlon on Sunday. It sounded like a fun race to close out the season with a 1500 swim, a 24m bike and 5.6 mile run. Well, as the forecasted morning low temp started plummeting the race director made the call to change to a run/bike/run duathlon instead. A smart move - I know how hard it was to try and run after swimming in 53 degree water when the air temp was mid 40s. I could not imagine trying to ride in those conditions. I like feeling my fingers and toes while riding! So I was looking forward to a du - since swapping swim for run wouldn't affect my race that much. Then winter moved in with snow and rain all along the front range. Nick and I loaded up the turtle and headed north, hopeful the weather would improve.

Got my packet and a campsite and headed out to preride. It was fun - a little mud and some puddles, but nothing I couldn't handle. Especially since I was on my single speed. For the first 20 minutes of the ride, the trail was fast and smooth, made tight by the rain and snow. Then we hit mud - deep mud, bad clay mud. I was doing good, then I couldn't pedal the bike. I just watched the tires expand - so caked in clay that I couldn't even turn the wheels. The melvin on the rear wheel was was also coated in clay. I tried a few times to clean off the wheels and frame so I could ride, but it was a loosing battle. Besides, I couldn't even get going because my shoes and cleats were covered in gunk. I eventually picked up my bike and carried it until the clay diminished. Cross racer I am not! I like riding - not carrying my bike! There were three more sections of just atrociach clay on the trail. Finally, about halfway through the lap, we threw in the towel and got on the road. Not worth it. When we got back to the camper, it took over an hour to get the bikes clean. Yuck. My only hope was that the temperature got cold enough for the muck to freeze. Then the course might be ridable - at least for the first lap. Then as the sun rose and the air warmed...

So I was not surprised to get the email stating that the race was postponed. I just couldn't imagine trying to race under those conditions. And I knew that the trails would get really damaged if we tried to race. I have to applaud Tom with Bear Events on making a tough call. I'm sure it wasn't easy - he had put a lot of work into making this first year event a success. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate and the race will go on as planned (as a duathlon still) on October 30th. I'm still planning on heading up there for a fun, fast race. That course looked like it would be fun!

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