The Lake Havasu tri took place on March 21 in the sunny Arizona community sided by the Colorado river. Havasu is one of the first triathlons of the season and a few of the club members jaunted down to participate. The weather was just about perfect, low 60's at the start and a high of 86 by 2pm, what else can you ask for? The water was a bit chilly, 66 degrees and very calm. Close to 700 athletes graced the venue including college teams from U of AZ, AZ State, Colorado, BYU, NM State and a few others.
The swim took place at Windsor Beach state park, just a stone's throw from the famous London Bridge. The bike course headed out north on London Bridge Blvd, long, fast, straight roads was on slate for a few miles. The organizers threw in a posh neighborhood with numerous turns and mild hills, bike handling was a must as 90 degree turns were common. Soon after, back on the straight road, speeds reached in the high 20's with a mild tail wind. However, the fun was over, another ritzy, high-end development with short, very steep hills. There were three climbs, about 100-200 yards long. My Garmin registered in excess of 20% grades, definitely granny gears!!! The descends were just as steep with speeds reaching in the high 40's!!!..........The last 7 or 8 miles were on that aforementioned straight road, this time the wind picked up a bit and made it very difficult to get back to transition. The run was pancake-flat, well, most of the way. Just about a mile from transition, the runners had to climb about 80 steps and run across the famous London Bridge, pretty cool to say the least!.........
The run course sided the river, it was an out and back. Overall, it was a great event which I recommend everyone include it in next year's calendar. Havasu is only about 150 miles from Vegas, a very easy drive.
The next event will take place at Lake Las Vegas, next Sat. The Showdown at Sundown is a unique event, it starts at 3:30 pm followed by a party for the athletes at the resort. Hope to see everyone there. Rage is also coming up on April 18 as well as the X-Terra West Championships on May 2, also at Lake Las Vegas. We have been riding on Sun mornings from the Henderson MultiGen at 8am. Jackie Arcana is the ride leader, she usually heads out to Callville Bay for a refreshing 80 mile trek. E-mail me and I will fill you in. Anyway, it's nice talking to you all again and hope to see you out there training....................Thanks for reading, Victor
1 comment:
I just hit Lake Havasu for the half marathon/5k run they had out there! I had no idea there was a tri the week before. The place is gorgeous!
I too definitely recommend people get out there for some kind of event! We made a family trip out of it with 3 kids. The drive is pretty easy!
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