On competing in an Aquabike

• It’s Aquabike not aquathon
• Yes, that’s a thing.
• 2km swim, 90km ride
• Ankle feels sore, so I’m not running on it thank you very much.
• NO! I will not slide down the triathlon to chronic injury pipeline
• Give into the checklist. The checklist always wins. It may be a smug bastard, but it’s always right. No towel after a swim, the checklist would never.
• Distance wise, it’s a bit of work. But you are not an Iron Man. You are not a half iron man (70.3). You are not half a half iron man.
• You are not classic. Or ultimate. Or even Olympic.
• Every competitor has a sticker on their bike, and often you are riding next to an ‘ultimate’ or a ‘classic’. These are powerful brands.
• Ok, you are going to need more than 2 water bottles. I mean ‘bidons’. Sometimes these are handed out. There were many different ways to affix them to your bike. The no hands sippy straw is a whole other thing — I could never, but whatever gets you to the finish line I guess.
• Karma. Shaking your head as you zoom past a fellow cyclist suffering from cramps. Karma’s a bitch!
• Cramps. Part of nature. One of life’s great mysteries. They will come for you. As a warden told me with a wink “you’re gonna have to ride ’em out.”
• He also said “you are about 5km from the turnaround point. You could get back there and decide what to do (keep going or end the race).” I’m not the kind of person who kicks and screams or would regret a DNF for the rest of my life, it’s just not that important to me… But after 3 hours or so of riding your guts out… It doesn’t feel like an option. Live free or die. Get rich or die trying. The spartan war horn. etc
• Have fun!

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