The race was great- it's almost an Olympic distance but with a short swim (0.5 mi). The bike ride is along the scenic Natchez Trace Parkway, and the run is on a paved trail through a shady wooded area. It was my first race with the new bike so I really wanted to tear it up out on the bike course. I managed to do pretty well on the bike- YAY- but then had no legs getting out on the run. I felt like Lieutenant Dan from Forrest Gump. After the turnaround on the run I realized one other reason for that- the run was mostly uphill the whole way out, but so gradual that you couldn't really see it. It was just enough to make you a little miserable. On the way back I was able to open it up a little and take advantage of the slight downhill, so at least that was good. And for once I didn't end up way out in the middle of the lake during the swim, with the race going on waaaay over there... I need to remember that whenever I think to myself, "oh I'm getting some swimming room, this is good", that it's actually NOT good because it probably means I'm veering off to China. So the fact that I managed to swim mostly straight on a right-turns course (I'm better on left turns) was good enough for me. I even took home some hardware!
But the real story of the day happened before the race even started. I was jogging around the parking lot warming up, about ten minutes before I was going to head down to the water. I saw some cops standing over by the side of the parking lot. I didn't think anything of it, since there are normally cops at races for traffic control. But when I ran by, I saw them putting cuffs on the kid who was standing with them. He looked youngish, early 20s, and was all dressed up in his triathlon gear, body marked and ready to race. As I passed I heard one of the cops say, "they have some pretty unique serial numbers, you know, especially those fancy carbon ones". Wait, wha?? I had to find out more...
On my way back around the parking lot, the cops were putting the kid in the car. I got the scoop from two ladies who were standing nearby- the kid stole the bike from packet pickup the night before (which was held at the local bike shop). Then in his infinite wisdom, he brought it to the race and tried to race with it. How on Earth did they find him, you ask? Perhaps because the race number attached to the bike was the same as the number WRITTEN ON HIS BODY. The bike shop people showed up, found the bike by make, model, and serial number, and then found the kid. (I heard he was going to parade around with a neon sign saying "I STOLE THIS" but he thought it would mess up his aerodynamics.)
I really don't have much else to say about that. I mean, seriously?? A bike just happens to go missing the night before the biggest sporting event in the area, and you think they're not going to look there? Although, Coach Rick had a good point- "I actually don't know if I'd have looked here, because I'd have thought no one would be that dumb."
So whether it was bold, just plain stupid, or both, it was definitely something I did not expect to see that morning!
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