First Tri of Year, Chain-Drop Hill, & Tough Punchers - Westwood Standard Tri RR

Dynamic Race Event's Westwood Tri in Nanaimo BC was my first triathlon of the year and probably one of the first open lake triathlon here on the west coast racing scene. A good bang per buck for a challenging hilly course on the bike/run with ideal weather conditions. We got ideal weather conditions for this third annual event and better than the rainy one from last year.

I decided to go test the standard distance. A - to build fitness for Boulder long course, and B - since last week I did a accumulation of 32k bike, 10k run in the standard du, adding 8k more for bike and a small 1.5k swim component can't be too bad right?   

For standard, the swim is a two CCW loop course in the calm waters. There was a little more contact in the main than the sprint distance. I seem to get my fastest swim splits with more contact, which means more drafting for me. 

Credit: Dynamic Race Events

Swim

Coming out of the waters and into T1, we go down the infamous known chain-drop hill. 

The bike is similar to the Sprint with a little extension tail to the out-and-back. At the flux Capacitor, we do a little ziggy section only on the outbound.

The little extension took a little detour into the new residential area. After that was some significant hills. I had to shift down to small ring 4-5 times throughout the bike. I was counting the leaders. Jeff Symonds and a few others putting on a clinic. The honest hills definitely favours the all-rounded cyclists and not just big power outputters. I really enjoyed it, and especially chain-drop hill on the way back to the lake.

Bike

The run is definitely challenging and one of the more hidden ones. You don't realize if anyone is behind or ahead unless you can remember the positionings from the bike. Two CCW loops around the perimeter of the Westwood lake. Just a few 100 metres before the finish is a killer puncher hill which ruins your rhythm.

Run

Credit: Dynamic Race Events

Credit: Dynamic Race Events

I ease my legs into gear for the first 2k. Maybe it was a bit too conservative? But I wasn't comfortable in the standard distance yet. Lessons to learn for next time. Some yummy pancakes and sausages at the finish. This one was hard earned but a good build to the season's opener. Just missed the AG podium, but definitely a good challenge with the standard distance. :) Overall another great race with fabulous company and race support. It's becoming a must on my annual race calendar! :)