Stock Island, Fla Keys. The Key West Southernmost Sprint Triathlon actually takes place each spring at the Fla Keys Community College on Stock Island. If last week's Miami International Tri was a Tour Stage, then the Southernmost Tri is pure Grass Roots. The only problem is, there isn't any grass on Stock Island, only coral rock, bleached white by hundreds of years in the sub-tropical sun.
Stock Island is the last stop on the island chain known as the Fla Keys before crossing a bridge and entering the Griswold Nirvana that is Key West during "Season". Like an aging rock star, Key West struggles to maintain its past brilliance, while across the bridge its brooding blue-collar brother, Stock Island, struggles to maintain the Keys maritime heritage in the face of economic collapse. When the T-shirt shops and tacky bars pushed the shrimpers and lobstermen out of Key West Bight, they drifted to Stock Island; suffice it to say that other than this day each year, you won't see many men in lycra here...
6:30 a.m: As I set up my transition area, I debate the merits of a wet suit for this short event; warm and buoyant will cost me precious transition time, and this race could be all about seconds, and besides, I can stand anything for 10 min...7:00 a.m: Treading water, I wait for the deep water mass start in the lagoon...body temp 98F, water temp 68F, air temp 62F; a wetsuit would be priceless right now...Start horn goes off and I'm in the lead pack, water churning like the Margarita blenders across the bridge; hands, elbows and feet flying everywhere, forcing me to porpoise every few strokes to sight the buoys...the Dragon of Doubt sneaks out of his cave and whispers behind me "You don't belong here"; with steely resolve, I crack the whip and send him packn' before I search for some "good feet" to follow...out of the water I fly through T1 and out on the bike course...rounding the corner onto Highway 1, I drop a couple of quarters in the slot and kick things up a notch...240w, 154bpm, 26.1mph...I like the numbers, but do I have enough quarters in my roll to maintain them???...back in T2 I slam on my running shoes and stumble onto the run course with wooden legs...Joe says "the legs lie" and experience tells me "they'll open up soon", so I focus on cadence...a mile in and they do open up and I'm flying as I realize it's one of those magical days when all the cylinders are firing...as I cross the finish line, I hear the sweet sound of the Neville Brothers Band calling me from N'Orleans, where I'll be racing the 70.3 in 4 more weeks...Leissez les bon temps roulez!!!
South Fla Race Block results:
Miami International Tri 19th AG 2:38:18
Southernmost Sprint Tri 1st AG, 2nd Overall Masters 55:42 (new Sprint distance PR)
Stock Island is the last stop on the island chain known as the Fla Keys before crossing a bridge and entering the Griswold Nirvana that is Key West during "Season". Like an aging rock star, Key West struggles to maintain its past brilliance, while across the bridge its brooding blue-collar brother, Stock Island, struggles to maintain the Keys maritime heritage in the face of economic collapse. When the T-shirt shops and tacky bars pushed the shrimpers and lobstermen out of Key West Bight, they drifted to Stock Island; suffice it to say that other than this day each year, you won't see many men in lycra here...
6:30 a.m: As I set up my transition area, I debate the merits of a wet suit for this short event; warm and buoyant will cost me precious transition time, and this race could be all about seconds, and besides, I can stand anything for 10 min...7:00 a.m: Treading water, I wait for the deep water mass start in the lagoon...body temp 98F, water temp 68F, air temp 62F; a wetsuit would be priceless right now...Start horn goes off and I'm in the lead pack, water churning like the Margarita blenders across the bridge; hands, elbows and feet flying everywhere, forcing me to porpoise every few strokes to sight the buoys...the Dragon of Doubt sneaks out of his cave and whispers behind me "You don't belong here"; with steely resolve, I crack the whip and send him packn' before I search for some "good feet" to follow...out of the water I fly through T1 and out on the bike course...rounding the corner onto Highway 1, I drop a couple of quarters in the slot and kick things up a notch...240w, 154bpm, 26.1mph...I like the numbers, but do I have enough quarters in my roll to maintain them???...back in T2 I slam on my running shoes and stumble onto the run course with wooden legs...Joe says "the legs lie" and experience tells me "they'll open up soon", so I focus on cadence...a mile in and they do open up and I'm flying as I realize it's one of those magical days when all the cylinders are firing...as I cross the finish line, I hear the sweet sound of the Neville Brothers Band calling me from N'Orleans, where I'll be racing the 70.3 in 4 more weeks...Leissez les bon temps roulez!!!
South Fla Race Block results:
Miami International Tri 19th AG 2:38:18
Southernmost Sprint Tri 1st AG, 2nd Overall Masters 55:42 (new Sprint distance PR)
3 comments:
Awesome dude. Great day. We miss ya up here. Come home soon.
WOW PERRY!!!!! THANKS FOR SHARING!! I CAN'T WAIT FOR YOU TO RETURN AS WELL SO WE CAN GET SOME RIDING IN WITH YOU!!
HEADSTRONG IN ALL THAT YOU DO PERRY! WAY TO REPRESENT!!!
Good show, Perry. You have got to be stoked about this race and your PR. I'm glad all the cylinders were firing...
Let's ride when you're back in town...weather is getting good...finally.
Post a Comment