Xterra Parry Sound – My First Attempt at Off-Road Triathlon

WOW… I did not know what I was getting myself into when I signed up for this race! From the Xterra Youtube video’s I have seen, the mountain bike courses have all resembled XC (cross-country) terrain with nothing too technical or difficult. I raced my mountain bike in the Surf & Turf and my lack of experience on a mountain bike did not hurt my results much if any. This was NOTHING like anything I had ever seen or experienced! More on the bike course later…

I made the 3.5 hour drive to arrive at the race site (Georgian Nordic Ski and Canoe Club) by 8am (2.5 hours before the start). I had a little talk with the guy who parked beside me (former professional triathlete and soon to be winner on this day – Sean Bechtel) who mentioned the importance of pre-riding an Xterra bike course. He was also unfamiliar with the course as he also drove up the same day and this was the inaugural year for this race; he was heading out to do one loop of the 11k… I knew that trying to keep up with him even on a recon loop was not a smart idea for me 2 hours before the race start. I should have drove up a day early like many of the other athletes had done to spend some time on the course… It was pre-marked a week in advance for a reason! After picking up my race kit and setting up (shoes and a towel) in the second transition zone (T2), I did decide to do a quick test of a bit of the bike course. Thought’s that went through my head as I pre-rode the start of the bike course; ‘this can’t be right?’ ‘I thought they wanted to attract new people to this sport, not scare people away!’ ‘Is this really happening?’ ‘Why is that arrow pointed straight up that boulder?’ ‘Why is the next arrow pointed straight down that 20ft drop?’ ‘What if it rains?’ ‘If it rains, I QUIT!’ After 500 meters I had enough and I just didn’t want to see anymore so I went back to my car, grabbed my gear for T1 and rode my bike the 1.5kms down to the swim start/T1.

Swim

The 1500 meter swim consisted of two 750 meter loops with a beach run in-between. It took place in a section of Nine Mile Lake that is around 100 meters wide so we swam up one side and then back down the other. Nestled in the granite rock not only provided a beautiful setting but it also kept the lake perfectly calm; ideal race conditions.
It was a beach start so I lined up in the front row of the 62 soon-to-be Xterra Parry Sound finishers. I knew that I was not going to be very competitive on the bike course so I wanted to get as much as I could out of my swim. The gun went and we were off; I had a good start and stayed in front of any possible mayhem. Around the 200 meter point I tucked in behind another swimmer to conserve some energy and someone did the same behind me. The three of us swam in a line around the two turn buoy’s but by around the 500 meter mark I reminded myself that taking it easy in the swim today was not a part of the plan. I put in a bit of a surge and pulled off to the right in an effort to not only pass but to not allow either of these two guys to draft off me. It worked; I had dropped them before the end of the first 750 meters. During the short beach run between swim loops, I was able to get a view of where I stood… I was about 25 meters back of 3rd place and we were well back of the two pro level athletes. Nothing changed during the second loop and I exited the water in 4th. My time of 24:50 includes T1 and puts me in 6th as I took my time in T1 and lost my 15 second lead over the 5th and 6th place swimmers.

Bike

Before I get to the race, a little background on my mountain bike training/experience/equipment is in order. No excuses; I fully admit that in comparison to these Xterra/MTB veterans, I suck… I am in awe of what these athletes can do on a MTB!
When I made my season schedule, I had plans of riding my mountain bike once a week or at least a few times a month so I joined the local MTB club… The problem is; they ride Sunday’s and Wednesday’s… Sunday is long run day and often includes a family obligation, and Wednesday night is Jordan’s T-Ball. Riding alone was always a possibility but my lack of knowledge regarding the local trails and my lack of ability makes both getting lost and injured likely so I would really rather have the company to keep me out of trouble. So, I had only ridden my MTB once in the 7 weeks leading up to this race and a total of 5 times this year on-top of just a few rides last year. A combination of not making training for this race a priority and a false illusion that my fitness would be enough to keep me competitive was a major mistake!
When I purchased my MTB last year, I was sure to get something that was good enough to get me through a standard XC Xterra bike course. It’s heavy, it’s a hardtail (no rear suspension), and my rear wheel/tire combo is VERY far from a race wheel and is not tubeless… But, it did only cost me about 10% of what many of these Xterra athletes have spent on their bikes! It’s been fine on the hardpack trails I’ve had it on. There was no hardpack today! I brought a knife to a gun fight.
Back to the race: Out of the water in 4th, onto the bike in 6th, a few seconds behind 4th and 5th… We first had a 1.5km dirt road ride up to the site of T2 where the first of two 11km loops started. The first 3 kms of the loop was the hardest 3k stretch… By the end of it (just 4.5k into a 23.5k ride), I had already fallen 4 times. One was a bad one; I had a poor line on one of the steep 15 – 20ft descents. I slowed down as much as possible but when I clipped the tree at the bottom I went over my handlebars. I peeled myself out of the dirt to see that there was a camera man getting it all on video… Awesome! Completely winded, with a bruised ankle, bruised chest, and bruised ego, I made my way back onto my bike and immediately knew something was wrong. My front wheel was warped, rubbing on the fork and had a broken spoke… With about 19k to go, I wondered if my day was over?! Thankfully, that was not the case as it was still functional. I continued on cautiously on the descents and corners. By the end of the first loop, I had only been passed by 3 others so I was still in the top 10.
Now, back into the toughest part for loop 2 and pretty close to that same spot where I broke my front wheel on the first pass, I blew my rear tire! I checked my GPS, 8 – 9 km to go… Way too far to run it out! I was not looking forward to repairing the flat but I was prepared with a spare tube and CO2. Before I started to change it on my own, I remembered that I had recently passed a couple volunteers so I yelled back to them asking if anyone could change a flat. One of them quickly ran over to me and let me know that he was the race bike support! PERFECT!! I took the opportunity to rest and get some nutrition into me while he changed the tube for me! I was down a total of almost 4 minutes and was passed by 4 more competitors (down to 13th). I only fell one more time and passed 3 competitors after my flat (2 had flat’s of their own) so I finished the bike in 10th place. My 1:27:55 was 19th fastest on the day but just finishing was a success for me!
Never had going 16km/h on a bike been so difficult! The bike course put a beating on my bike and body! When we weren’t being slammed around by the rocks, we were fighting our way through sand; so as much as I was looking forward to finishing the bike, I wasn’t sure how the run was going to go…

Run

It started out a little rough… My legs were cooked, my back was sore, my ankle hurt from one of the falls, and my ass hurt from being slammed against my seat for the past 87 minutes. I immediately walked through the first aid station to get some nutrition into me as I had heard that the run course was just as hard as the bike course. Thankfully, I loosened up and started to feel like I was ready to run… Just in time to reach ‘The Wall’ –

Run course obstacle – Massasauga Rattlesnake

A 45 ft climb at close to an 80 degree angle (I took advantage of the rope provided to pull myself up). The remainder of the two loop 8.5km run was set in the damp/wet (and sometimes muddy) forest. Again, no hard packed trails like I have trained on; every foot strike demanded 100% of your attention. I bit of a misstep on my second loop ended with my shoe stuck 6 inches down in the mud while I continued for a couple steps before turning around to retrieve it. A 40:30 for 8.5k is usually an easy training run but with the difficulty of this run course, it was a respectable 6th fastest run of the day.

I went into this race with the hope of keeping my podium streak alive (at 4 for 4); I left humbled by the bike course. I swam and ran faster than 3rd in my AG (4th OA), BUT, he finished the bike course over 15 minutes faster than me!! I have huge respect for everyone who was able to run/walk/crawl over the finish line of Xterra Parry Sound!

When the announcer asked for a show of hands prerace from any first-time Xterra racers doing the long course, I looked around and didn’t notice many (if any) other arms in the air. Despite the difficulty, this was a fantastic race and experience; I would be hesitant recommending it to anyone new to mountain biking, but for those advanced MTB riders, this is great race! As I expected, I was told by some of the experienced Xterra athletes that this was the most difficult Xterra bike course in Ontario and the run course was a true Xterra experience!
I will most certainly be back to an Xterra start line in the future; a new bike and some more experience might even bring me back to Parry Sound!