LAKE ARROWHEAD TRIATHLON
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Tue, 21 Aug 2007 by Michael Pajaro
On Saturday I did a sprint triathlon in Lake Arrowhead, up in the mountains outside Los Angeles. A group from my tri-team rented a cabin for the weekend and it was a perfect get-away.
For a sprint, this was somewhat challenging. For starters, the lake is at an altitude of 5000 feet so the air is a little thinner which just made us feel tired overall. The lake itself is beautiful: calm, clear, tranquil. That is until a couple hundred triathletes jump into it and start churning everything up. Also, somebody forgot to tell the powerboats to stay out of the water; although they were not close to us, they created some surprisingly large wakes which tossed us around a lot. It was "only" a 600-yard swim, but with the thrashing and the waves, we had to work for every yard.
The bike ride was the most technical 10-miles I have ever ridden. It was one loop around the lake, all hills with very tight curves the entire way. Even if you were brave enough to go all out during the downhills you had to be ready on the brakes to make sure you could hit the 90 degree turns at the bottom. It was anything but boring, so even though my legs were pretty sore I have to say I enjoyed the course.
The 3-mile run had a few small hills but was mostly uneventful.
My friend Leah who has been our running coach this season came in 3rd place in her division, so she rocked. However, we had an even bigger winner in our group: Ben won the award for "Best Road Rash". Yes, they actually brought him up to the stage during the Awards Ceremony to show everyone his bruises. Ben crashed less than a half mile into the bike at the bottom of the very first hill and skidded along his shoulder. (He was wearing a sleeveless jersey.) He got right back on the bike and finished the race, although as the weekend went on he was in more and more pain. He'll be fine.
Logistically, the race is a breeze; lots of parking less than 100 yards from the Transition Area. Small number of competitors. Beautiful surroundings. Highly recommended, but work on your hill riding before you get here.
