We spent this weekend at Ray's place for Xterra Nevada 2007. Brad Kearns, Goeric, Ray and Cedric had signed up for the race. Unfortunately, poor health took a toll on our crew and only half of us ended up competing in what was going to be a rather "unique" Xterra. Weather started playing tricks on us on Friday, when Ray spent almost an hour looking for a hole in a unusually overcast bay are sky. After fitting all my gear (including my bike) into the back of the very spacious Malibu Mirage we took off hoping for a short hop over the mountains. Unfortunately, ATC somehow thought we were headed to Oregon, and we ended up erratically navigating the crowded SFO airspace, following the confusing directions of a confused air traffic controller. Soon enough they realized their mistake, and we were back on track to Lake Tahoe.
The next day we woke up to snow and 23 deg F (-5 deg C), highly unusual for September in Nevada. Of course I was not equipped for these kinds of conditions, so Ray hooked me up with full gloves and arm warmers.
Maureen and I left south lake at 7AM to meet up with Goeric and Marie-Catherine at the expo area (Ray was one of the health casualties and stayed home to rest). We picked up our race packets, sized up our competition, and changed into our wetsuits. It was cold, really cold. I ended up waiting in the water for the start (yes, this is Lake Tahoe: if it feels warm, something is wrong...) I barely heard the cannon, I think my ears where frozen shut at this point. I swam poorly, maybe it's the altitude or maybe it's the cold but my breathing was off and so was everything else. I swam the 750m (~1/2 miles) in a slow 16 min, and ran the relatively long distance to the transition zone barefoot. Big mistake. At the end of the 2-3 min run through ice and snow, I could not feel my toes anymore. I should have heeded the advice of the MC who "strongly recommended" racers to wear shoes during the T1 run. I knew better of course and my toes would remain numb for the next 2h30. After squeezing my frozen feet into my bike shoes and strapping on my helmet, I decided I would not need the arm warmers after all. Second big mistake. My brain must have skipped a beat because of the cold or something. Anyway. The ride was cold and slippery (about 75% of it was covered with snow and/or ice), but this still is probably one of the most beautiful courses in the world. Goeric, who had come out of the water just a tad after me passed me within the first 30 min, no surprise there. He would gain even more on me during the rather technical descent and ended up almost 10 min ahead of me in T2.
The last leg was uneventful, it is a very twisty run and it is hard to go really fast because of all the obstacles, but I managed to make up some time on my favorite leg. Our finishing times: 3h07'51 for Goeric and 3h10'09 for me. Here are the pics.
We'll do it again next year!
