Echo Triathlon

Swim start was better than I expected. They did a mass start due to the water level being so high but since there were only 70 participants doing the long distance we didn’t feel crowded. Swim went great, though it was hard to see the buoys when the sun came up over the mountains. Bike course was marked well. There were a few spots where I wasn’t quite sure where to go but because I studied the course map beforehand generally knew where the turns were. Bike dismount and transition were awful. There were many spectators and a car in the middle of where I was supposed to turn when I was coming in. I was confused what path to take to get into transition (should have walked it through that morning). What really frustrates me was all of the people in transition that were NOT still racing. There were people(from the shorter distances) walking in groups, slowly gathering their things while I was trying to run through transition with my bike. Way too congested! Run course was a partially dirt path. 3 aid stations, hardly any shade. Volunteers took down the fence around the bikes 2 hours before the race finished! There was little security monitoring who went into transition to pick up their bikes and gear. And by the time I was finished my bike was completely exposed. My very expensive bike could have been taken by anyone! All in all I had a good time and really appreciated the volunteers on the bike and run course!