Virginia Cup Off Road Duathlon Recap



Time for the start!!



When I packed up for this race I brought everything but the kitchen sink.  It has been pretty cool lately, so I figured today would be much of the same.  Boy was I wrong!!  The day turned out to be perfect for a duathlon.  The problem with this sort of event in November is that you will overheat quickly in the clothing required to race your bike for an hour.  Boy was I wrong on the weather; it turned out to be an awesome day!  Almost as soon as I showed up, I started taking layers off trying to find the perfect combination.



Joe and Jim transitioning onto their bikes.

  



Joe, killing it!



Matt and Jeff opted for the more sane duo



This was the first race ever on the mountain bike trails at Pocahontas State Park.  I’m fortunate enough to call these my home trails and usually ride my bike to the trailhead.  I contemplated doing this on race day, but quickly decided not to as I knew I needed to bring stuff for transition and the air was a bit brisk for the quick spin to the park.  Joe Fish is such a badass that he opted to ride his Giant the 8 or so miles from his house to the event.  As these are the home trails to Joe as well, I felt like we had a bit of an advantage over the rest of the field.

 

Finishing up



Once I arrived and started setting up my transition area, I started seeing other Design Physics racers.  It was awesome to have such a nice turnout at this final event of the Virginia Off Road Series.  In total, Design Physics had 9 racers and one spectator!!  It was a pretty awesome feeling to have this much support at an event, especially a duathlon.

In short, the race went down like this, Joe Fish killed everyone!!  I knew I would need to put some major time on Joe during the running sections as he would be faster then me on the bike.  When Joe hung with me on the first run, I knew it was his race to win.  The bike section was very fun with lots of leaves all over the trail.  I passed the few guys that had beaten me on the first run within the first mile or so and settled into a rhythm that I was able to maintain over the course.  I kept expecting my legs to recover from the run, but it never really happened so I couldn’t make up any time on Joe.  I felt terrible by the time the second run was over and I was just happy to be finished.  Not a great day for me, but a great day for Design Physics Racing.  What an awesome way to finish off the season.

All in all, we filled many of the podiums:

Joe Fish- 1^st solo men

David Reid- 2^nd solo men

Kate Fisher- 3^rd solo women

Team Juaneza and Plassman- 3^rd duo men

Paul Leeger- 3^rd 35-39 men

Jim Fisher- 1^st 40-44 men

Lisa Stover- 1^st 30-34 women

In addition John Leino competed on a team and Damon came out to show is support.  Thanks guys!

Got to RunRideRace for complete results.