After racing the 2015 edition of the Quassy half ironman triathlon and suffering on the 13.1 mile run, I was quickly attracted to the idea of the ‘aquabike’ category for this year. Swim, bike, DONE!

The day before I had raced in the olympic distance triathlon – you can find the race report here.

Let’s fast forward to the aquabike.

The half [ironman] distance triathlon started at 7am. My wave was 25 minutes later, along with all of the women 35 and under racers. This was a pleasant experience since I got to swim with a bright pink cap for the very first time!

Because of the relatively late start, I was able to find plenty of company in the water. Cloudy conditions made sighting the neon yellow and orange buoys quite elementary – and after 34:01, I emerged from Lake Quassapaug towards my bike.

I got on the CEEPO Viper and started hammering away. I have done this course twice before, and had shaved 5 off about five minutes from year to year. I wanted to keep the trend going despite the wet and rainy road conditions. [The announcer advised racers to deflate their tires down to 80psi; I kept mine at a 110psi]. Knowing that I would be done with my ‘race’ after finishing the bike course, my goal was to squeeze each and every last watt out of my legs.

So here it is:

I was able to shave off another 5 minutes off of last year’s bike split, and in doing so, I was the first ‘aquabiker’ to cross the timing mat.

Winning the aquabike category was an excellent way to cap off my 3rd consecutive year racing at Quassy. This race has become a benchmark of my triathlon season and I’m relieved to see Revolution3 #BackInBlue put on such a top-notch event.