The Dolan Keeps on Rollin !

Duathlon Race # 2 for 2010

This was a race that I decided to do when I selected my focus races in 2009.
It was listed as a 5k-30k-5k, but the bike was over 34k ! No worries as it was a great bike route. A little windy but rolling, which suits my riding style.

The field was pretty strong and I was excited about racing after some good bike workouts in the last 2 weeks. After a not so prefect warm up- we set off at a decent clip. 5:03 1st mile with 1/2mi of it on dirt. Both runs were mostly on a twisty bike path, out and back. Going into T1, three of us made up the pack hitting 15:29-30 for a bit under 5k . I had a good transition and got out 1st on the bike. (after a scare for a split second as I looked at the wrong spot for my helmet). The bike started up a big ass hill. about a mile long. I rode Lance style checking my competition out . But their were no pace takers or makers, I decided after a mile to roll as it was only 30k right !! JK. I hit a solid pace after I got out of the park (just under 2mi into the bike)
The wind was weird, felt like a cross wind but I found myself hitting 38MPH on the flats . So as per usually on the bike I focused on feel more that pace. Knowing I could run a strong 2nd run if needed, I didn't push all out on the bike. Also normally I don't like to lead this earlier but prefer to come from behind in the second half , So I played a little poker by checking, checking on the turns while keeping my cards close to my chest . Don't get me wrong I was riding good tempo putting in a solid effort but not all out, right around 12mi I could see a guy closing in so I let up a little. thinking I had only 14mins left on the bike, going off 30k listed race distance . Anyway this Fregre guy who I discovered later was a strong cyclist (did some serious Pro riding) caught me with 2mi to go. No bit deal, as I knew he had to ride pretty much all out to make up the ground. I could have out split him if required in a Tri or TT. But its a Run-Bike-Run not a TT !
I relaxed and got focused to run, Going into the 2nd run I started easy and worked into it, my goal was to hold a strong pace. No need to crush it.
I honestly had to say I knew it would only be a 2 man race and when I didn't see my buddy Dirk until 1/2mi to go in the run, I was worried that he had crashed or something. It turned out he went way way off route on the bike. Which sucks but I was proud of how positive he was about the situation. A true testament to his strong personally. Bigger things to come from Dirk !

Great race and will be on the 2011 Race Schedule.

RW