Victoria Duathlon Race Report by Keith Hodgson

Today I entered my first Duathlon at Victoria’s race held in Kitchener. There were around eight hundred competitors there. There were a few riders from the Orillia Cycling Club but there didn’t appear to be any others from the Baydogs. There were a few competitors from the ITU under 23 Team Canada triathlon series. Lots of different age groups including some in their eighties. Luckily I got to rack my bike beside Paul “Speedy” Gonzales. He’s a very experienced triathalete and he answered all my beginner questions and gave me lots of tips about racing and setup as well. They had wave starts and every three minutes they let another age group start the race. This was better than having one mass start with everyone jockeying for position.

The weather was partly cloudy with the sun peaking through. About three quarters of the way through the bike course it rained for maybe ten minutes. The 4km run course was fairly flat with a few small hill sections. The 30km bike course was very challenging. About 1 km into the bike section there was a steep hill that I swear I saw mountain goats and white snow at the top (ok so it was cows and haybails). After that there were lots of rolling hills. Before the turn around point was a long steady climb of about 1 ½ km, good test for the legs. The nice part was putting the bike in the tall gears and motoring down the hills. Strong cross/head winds for most of the bike course. Anyone with aero wheels would be having a difficult time keeping the bike steady.

The finally 4km run section was the hardest. It wasn’t that I didn’t have the energy it was because my legs were so tired from the bike course. My mind wanted me to go faster but my legs weren’t cooperating.

Thanks go to Subaru for being a major supporter of this event and for all the volunteers that helped make this possible. Thanks also to Nathan Brooks for teaching me about transitions. It helped a lot to be organized and to think about getting into and out of the transition area quickly.

Next up will be my first triathlon.