Review of Xterra Lite Buffelspoort - 25 January 2015

Sport Off Road Triathlon
Event Xterra Lite Buffelspoort
Date 25 January 2015
Where Buffelspoort, South Africa
Distance 25.4 Km
Finishing Time 02:25:30
Race Number 1653
Result 321/585
Top % 55%
Pace 5:44 m/km
Speed 10.47 km/h
Click here for details about Xterra Lite Buffelspoort
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My experience at the event:

It all started so well. A weekend away with my brother in law Curtis while camping by the beautiful Buffelspoort in order to avoid an early wake up and drive. Some good training sessions. A good feeling.
And yet it ended up in a disaster. The signs were there the evening before, after pitching the tent. My mountain bike fell on my toa and pierced it, leaving a hole in it and a broken spoke. In the morning though, I thought that everything was going to be ok, after all I never had any issues in any triathlons so far.

It all came at once: after a decent, but not brilliant, swim (Curtis exited the water just ahead of me, as usual),  I felt that something wasn't going to be ok when my back brakes kept rubbing on the tyre (the broken spoke the night before made the wheel a little skew). Unable to push - I couldn't just remove the back brakes in such a hilly and rocky bike leg, I started to suffer soon after we left our transition zone. And then, with maybe 5kms to go, disaster happened: some guy didn't brake in time coming down from a steep hill, and crashed into my back wheel just as I was around to turn. The back heel smashed against a rock, I managed to stay up, but my race was over. Tyre out, tube destroyed and frame bent. 

So I did what I always do: I kept going. I pushed and carried my bicycle for 5km on the hills, and by the time I reached the transition area, in the sun, I was dead. Somehow I managed to get up and start running, but those 6  hard kms in the forest took everything from me. I finished the race long after Curtis, but hey, at least I got my medal!

Details of the race here: http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/682248246

Some pictures:

Relax by the dam
Relax before the race

Me, not that much...
Bye bye Mountain Bike

In the forest
Struggling in the run

A difficult medal
And finally the medal

After carrying the mountain bike for 5km
This is how my MTB looked at the end

(the rest of the pictures are here https://www.flickr.com/photos/olafmeister/sets/72157650665637326/:) Back to sports