State #34 complete... South Carolina. A big thanks to my cousin John who found and rented me a bike, picked me up at the airport, drove 12 hours in 2 days carting me around, across state lines, all in an effort to support me and make my life easier. Another thanks to my hosts Larry, Shirley, Emily and Shasta for putting us up during our southern stay.
Now for the first... bike issues. The hills of Clemson were very technical. Many altitude changes in the Smokey Mountains with technical turns makes for lots of shifting. As this wasn't my regular "sled", I have to blame it on operator error. But I dropped a chain. Bummer! So for the first time I had to pull over and watch many of the folks I already passed, pass me by while I fixed it. I caught a few of them again but my podium finish went by the wayside. Overall a solid race. Killer swim and average run..wound up with 5th. Strong triathlon community down there; lots of elites showed up to race. Always fun to be toe to toe with the best of the best. That's one of things I love about this sport.
Next stop... Oklahoma.
Now for the first... bike issues. The hills of Clemson were very technical. Many altitude changes in the Smokey Mountains with technical turns makes for lots of shifting. As this wasn't my regular "sled", I have to blame it on operator error. But I dropped a chain. Bummer! So for the first time I had to pull over and watch many of the folks I already passed, pass me by while I fixed it. I caught a few of them again but my podium finish went by the wayside. Overall a solid race. Killer swim and average run..wound up with 5th. Strong triathlon community down there; lots of elites showed up to race. Always fun to be toe to toe with the best of the best. That's one of things I love about this sport.
Next stop... Oklahoma.
