Two Sprints in Two Seasons - Cultus Lake RRs

I was fortunate to have Cultus Lake Triathlon Sprint distance on my calendar twice this year - a June and a September edition! I figured I would blog them together since I'm already pretty behind in my blogging - that was my thinking a month ago. XD

Yup, as part of the popular Dynamic Race Series, it was a no brainer to tact on both of these races especially they are virtually in my back yard. Joe and Angie does a wonderful job keeping all of the races in the series affordable, fun and local. 

Photo Credit: Dynamic Race

Here's a brief preview of the sprint course. 

Swim was one clockwise rectangle, making 3 right turns and then approaching a short run towards the transition where you are greeted with friendly wetsuit pealers. 

Bike was a simple out and back loop from the lake to the town, along Columbia Valley Hwy, sharp turn on Vedder Mountain Road and into town on Yarrow Central Road. The bike has a combination of hills and flat sections, which is great for riders with a variety of skills sets (not just a course for big power nor a great climber). There's a little steep hill on the return to the lake, which brings the heart level up for the run.

Run was part along the beachfront (path leads you literally onto the beach) with two points before coming back onto the roads where you can pick up speed.  

Sprint Course

v1 June Edition

Funny I don't think I've ever had a pink cap before. Here's a glimpse of me. No smiles at the floating swim start.

Photo Credit: Dynamic Race

Photo Credit: Dynamic Race

The age group winner was also in Oliver, I knew heading into this race Padraic would be the one to chase. He was just slightly faster than me in all disciplines. I may have out T1 him briefly but he passed me on the bike pretty quick. 

Photo Credit: Dynamic Race

v2 September Edition

Same thing except we had to set-up our transitions in the dark. I had to re-jog my memory on where to set up and check in. Coming into this race, I was riding a low from the Worlds in Penticton. The best solution was to bounce back strong with a chill no-pressure race. Also Montreal RnR was the following weekend so I had already been gearing down on tri-season and gearing up for run-season.

Race morning was still dark

A tight section coming off the bike into T2

Mike Fertuck always a force to be wreckin with

Post Race Food

Lol this is almost identical to the June picture,
except I was in aero and more determined!
Photo Credit: Dynamic Race

Overall, similar swim, similar bike, and 2 minutes faster on the run. I had better technique doing higher cadence on the beach portion on the run. I did pass a few runners on the run course in the blistering fast 5km. 

Power Data from June Cultus was slightly higher than September Cultus. Times were similar, perhaps knowing the course made me more efficient with less power?

I sneaked onto the overall podium for the first time in my triathlon career. Chris Young and the winner had daylights on me. Great to see Chris Young back racing after a 2 year break. A bunch of the faster peeps were in the standard and half events.

Photo Credit: Dynamic Race

It was super fun sharing the AG podium with Matthew (left) and Allen (right). The three of us must had exchanged leads throughout this fast short course race.
Allen was thrilled to jump onto the podium as he's the crafty podium master who had built them. Photo Credit: Dynamic Race

After the race, we shared our power data stats and I was shocked that both Allen and Matthew had much bigger power than me! I learned big power is not the only variable for the fastest time, especially on a higher VI (variability index) score ride. Had the bike course been flat and straight, I easily could had been the slowest.

Special note, an inspiring local legend Mikey Ross had his 100th triathlon race in the standard for September Culus. It's too bad the sprint was finished before I got the chance to give him his 100th high five. He is one of the many amazing ambassadors for our sport.

Well that's a wrap for my tri-season. It will be a fun to get back into spin classes and nerding it up on Golden Cheetah to analyze the bike data over the summer. After a season of mostly short course racing, there's definitely still a lot to learn for all three disciplines. I'm adopting that Lionel Sanders approach to learning. For the next little bit, I'm going focus on running and enjoy the rebuild/off-season for bike and swim. This was the first year since 2011 I didn't do an Ironman distance and yet I'm having so much fun. You know that there is no such thing as having too much fun. ;)