Well, 8 weeks went by and not a day of "training". One month prior to race day the emails started flying, and many theoretical training dates were put out there, but life kept getting in the way. There was also another problem; three of the four Pussywillows did not yet own a road bike. Luckily, one of the group is an avid biker with a strong academic knowledge of the sport and she found used bikes for all three of us four weeks prior to race day.
Here is a little secret... owning a road bike is way different from knowing how to ride a road bike in a race.
Bridget is the "practicer" of the team. She called and confessed that she went on a 90 minute bike ride, all of it in one gear! It included walking her bike up several hills and was no fun at all. This was enough to inspire us to have a ride with Megan, to try to learn a few tips about shifting. Our clinic consisted of a lesson for each of us as our gear shifters were completely different, and then a 12 mile bike ride. Sounds impressive, right? Well, we rode 6 miles to a local tavern, had a beer, and rode 6 miles back. During the ride, I almost ate pavement twice and Bridget flew off her Baby Blue beauty once into a field of weeds and thistles! However, we did manage to learn to shift and biked up to the top of the major hill near where we started the ride without dismounting the bike. So, we considered the ride an overall success!
So, one week before the race, Bridget and I decided to sign up for a triathalon clinic that focused on the Art of Transition. That is the part of the race where you switch sports: (ie swim to bike and then bike to run). previously, I hadn't given this one single thought. But, part of the clinic was a baby mock tri (swim 300 yards, bike 4 miles, run 1 mile).
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