I took Friday off of work and drove with The Great Magnetic Wife to Arizona. We got into the Phoenix area just in time for rush hour, so there was a bit of a slow down, but considering we were cruising along at about 75 miles an hour for most of the drive, we made it in good time. We stayed at my cousin Allan's place in Chandler. Allan is a pilot for Southwest Airlines and lives in Stellar Air Park, which is a community that is adjacent to its own runway. There was much excitement as we arrived because after months of repair, the runway was being painted and all of the private pilots could fly their planes again. We went out to dinner at the P.F. Chang's and were off to bed by 9:30. The next morning we watched as Allan and his girlfriend, Mellisa, flew off to go to Allan's 30th high school reunion.
This is the first triathlon that I have done where there is a bike check-in. You leave your bike overnight in an assigned racking space. It is really quite civilized. You don't have to worry about your bike in the morning. And you don't have to worry about getting to the event early enough to get a good rack space. I did want to ride the course before I checked my bike in, so I printed out a map and headed to Tempe to ride. On the car ride there, The Great Magnetic Wife kept noticing signs for yard sales. She loves to go to yard sales, find underpriced treasures and then sell them on Ebay. So, while I was riding the bike course, dropping of my bike and getting all of my stuff for the triathlon at the expo, The Great Magnetic Wife would be checking out yard sales.
The bike course is three loops, so for a 56 mile course each loop was about 18 miles. I was going to ride very casually and with traffic lights, I figured it would take about an hour and a half. The nice thing about the course is that there was never more than a mile or two before a turn. This kind of broke up the ride. I think that every part of the course had a bike lane, which made it easy to ride in traffic. In Tempe, most of the streets seem to have bike lanes. It is a very bike-friendly city. I approve. The course was mostly flat, with a few rolling hills, including the several times you cross the bridges over Tempe Town Lake.
I got all of my triathlon stuff, my timing chip, all of my numbers, my goodie bag and went to go drop off my bike. I set it up at its assigned place and as I was doing so I heard other competitors deflating their tires. I asked why they were doing this. They said that the tire might pop if you leave them in the heat all day. Okay. I deflated my tires. I was going to bring my pump with me the next day anyway.
I met up with The Great Magnetic Wife and we had a little time to kill. Tempe Town Lake, the sight of the swim portion of the race is not usually open for swimming. It was going to be open from 1:00 to 3:00, so I wanted to swim the course and see if I could pick out some good sighting lines. We were both a little hungry and so we wondered down Mill Street to find something to eat. We ended up at the Border's Book Store because there was a Seattle's Best Coffee inside and The Great Magnetic Wife had a coupon for a buy-one-get-one-free coffee frou-frou drink. It was delicious and just what we needed.
We headed back up to Tempe Town Lake and it was time for the swim. Tempe Town Lake is a man-made lake that was made in the late 70s. It is almost two miles long and about a quarter of a mile wide. It was made in the bed of the Rio Salado, or Salt River. A dry river that runs through Tempe. I swam without my wetsuit. The water was about 70 degrees, a nice temperature for swimming and the air temperature was about 90, so it felt good to jump in. Once I got past the bridge over the lake, there was really nothing to sight for a good swim. This was going to be difficult. Oh well, I enjoyed my swim and as I got out, I saw fellow L.A. Tri Club members Lawrence and Beth Fong getting ready to go in.
We headed back to Chandler and stopped by a Whole Foods market to pick up a roasted chicken for dinner. Most of the rest of the evening was spent organizing my equipment and packing, or as The Great Magnetic Wife calls it, obsessing.
No comments:
Post a Comment