Pickerel Lake Triathlon 2011

It was the 7th annual Pickerel Lake Triathlon this weekend, and it was another great success. Warm, dry, (humid) weather. Strong turnout. No bicycle mishaps. Great Race.

The 2005 winner Dan Rupke made his first appearance since the inaugural year. He couldn't defend is previous title but finished with a similar time, good for 2nd. Also, our first non-cottage participant joined. Chris from down the road heard about out group and asked to join. He didn't have the benefit of preparation and had to borrow a woman's mountain bike but still had an impressive race and finished 3rd.
The swim was a bit of a challenge. There was a little wind chop for the middle part of the race that threw me out of rhythm for a few minutes. The high school swimmers once again dominated.





The biking conditions were ideal. We had a ton of rain in the previous week so the dirt roads were firm. About 1 mile of the pavement was redone since last year so it was quite smooth.

I felt awesome on the bike. I overtook the fast swimmers and was in first by about 1 minute coming off the bike. Before I stopped biking I knew I had no chance for a good run. My energy was sapped, but I pushed hard to make sure I had the best overall bike time.

The run was brutal. I had a weird queezy/completely spent feeling that made me almost stop and purge a few times. I was easily passed by Paul, Dan, and Chris during the run and finished 4th.

My time was very similar to last year but clearly not at the same level as my 3 winning years.

Paul was by far the most trained person again this year. His burning desire to beat my record time pushed him to new training levels. Sadly (for him), he came up short again. My record will stand for at least one more year.

The rest of the weekend was filled with amazing summer weather, sparklers, children, family, and fun.

Evie was already a pyro, so the sparklers were right up her ally. She liked them so much that she voluntarily smiled for the camera.


Grandpa enjoyed his new rocking chair and his youngest grandsons.
The boys enjoyed themselves most of the weekend.