Weekend results:
Over the weekend, Brian W and Cheryl W went down to the Bob Rodale Fitness Park in Trexeltown, PA, which is across the street from the velodrome. Cheryl lined up for the Women’s 1-2-3 race, which had racers from Poland, New Zealand and Scotland that were in the area to race on the velodrome and decided to do this race, too.

In a very sketchy final lap, Cheryl decided to be cautious and finished 12th. She also did the Women’s 35+ race and finished 3rd. Brian and Scott H lined up for the Men’s 45+, which had big teams well represented.  Scott was very active in the race, but unfortunately, he went down in the last corner of the last lap. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital and on last check he has a possible broken ankle.  He was able to leave the hospital on his own with an air cast on his leg.  Brian finished 11th in the race.

Tour of the Catskills Stage Race, 8/3 – 8/5:
The heat and the weather made for a particularly grueling TOTC this year. Jeffery L crashed into a ravine in the Cat 5 race and had to be taken to the hospital (a BIG GET WELL SOON to Jeffery!). After that, Pete had some bonking issues on Saturday’s road race. He told us his tale:

“We got to Devil’s Kitchen shortly thereafter. I was turning my 39/28 nicely, but then the real steep stuff hit, about 1.5-2km into the climb. I clicked down to my 39/32 and was making a solid effort. Suddenly, both legs locked up. I got off the bike to stretch and the next thing I remember is being woken up by three hikers!”

Pete raced the open 4/5 race on Sunday in the rain and unfortunately crashed. Also doing the TOTC were Paul Y and Robert E. Paul took 4th in the opening TT (Cat 4) and Robert was 62nd. Stage 2 saw Paul and Robert survive Devil’s Kitchen and finish 20th and 32nd, respectively, and then 21st and 32nd on Sunday’s race.

Lighter Than Air Duathlon (MidAtlantic Championships), 8/5:
This is a flat and fast duathlon on the McGuire Air Force Base in central NJ. Mikael H has finished 4th in both of the last 2 years and was hoping to improve on that result this year. While it is always hot, this year’s conditions were horrific – 20mph winds (and no protection from the wind on the course), intense humidity, and heat reaching into the upper 90s!

He felt OK during the first 5k, but was a tad surprised to see his heart rate hit the low 180s during the run (about 10 bpm higher than normal). He got on the bike in 10th place overall and quickly started reeling in people, moving up to 3rd place by the start of the second 10-mi lap. With 5mi to go on the bike, he was able to pass 20-something James Register (who is undefeated in duathlons this season) and was about 5 seconds behind the leader going into the 2nd transition.

With the heat radiating off the various abandoned airstrips, the 2nd run was horrible. He got off thebike in 2nd, but there were 6 competitors within 30 seconds of each other running in slow motion due to the heat. Mikael’s HR hit 188 bpm by mile 1 and he was re-passed by James Register and one other. He grew more than content to finish 4th again and win the masters division. A scale in a nearby mess hall showed that he had lost 6lbs of water weight (and that was after drinking 3 bottles of water at the finish!).