NEW PACK MEMBERS
Please welcome Elise Griifiths to the Pack. She is ramping up to the IronMan 70.3 World Championships in Taupo, NZ in December!!
HOWLS
We've had some more great racing going on!
Loud Howl out to Eric "The Butcher" Gutknecht who raced with Team USA at the AquaBike Long Course World Championships in Townsville, Australia where he placed 6th in the World/1st American in M50-54! His write-up is below, so please take a few minutes as it has an exciting ending and watch the video! The finish line is 10 steps past dismount, so the guy he refers to is the guy right in front of him... :) :)
Howl out to RJ "The BoogeyMan" Boergers who, in preparation for the upcoming war with Andy "The Hammer" Solomon at the S.O.S. (Survival of the Shawangunks) Triathlon, raced at the Ottilo "SwimRun" Casco Bay which includes alternating approximately 5 Miles of Swimming and 17 Miles of running! Strong work RJ!
Howl out to Thomas "The Swede" Andreasson went to Boulder Sunset Sprint Tri as ready as I've seen anyone and, sadly, about 20 seconds into the swim couldn't catch his breath (next day was exhausted and a really bad sore throat and we are sorting through what happened -- sickness or hypoxia) and ended up having one of those days. Of note, despite having to resort to breast stroking the swim (which he still did in 17 minutes for the 750 Meters) and has yet to get a TT bike, held on to finish a mere 3 minutes off podium... Really great show of resilience and the notion of Relentless Forward Motion in the face of a miserable day.
Also, at Boulder Sunset Olympic Distance Tri, Howls out Eli "Lethal Weapon" Madden had a 10 minute Olympic distance PR which is additionally impressive as the bike is about 2 miles longer than standard Olympic, and Christine Kachinsky who, we found out, developed a nasty sickness and left her unable to catcher her breath throughout the entire race finished 4th F50-54. I missed the race as I got Covid on Wednesday night... Rough week in the Bye Household...
To wrap it up, Howl up to Lisa "SheWolf" Rosysnky who had a great 5K at the Cupcake 5K in New Jersey! :) The tutu wasn't aerodynamic... :)
The Butcher's Race Report - Team USA Aquabike Long Course World Championship (Townesville, Australia)
Started out with a 1.8 mile swim. They crammed 200 of us in a 30 wide spot between 2 orange buoy’s in the open water. We had to tread water as it was deep. When the horn went off it was total chaos. Took a punch or an elbow to the eye after 100 meters of full contact swimming. Both my goggles and swim cap flew off. Fortunately, I felt my goggles hit the back of my right shoulder and I fortunately reached back and found them right away….otherwise my race could have been over. The water was way to choppy with big waves to swim without goggles.
Regained my composure and swam to the first turn (the adrenaline helped), where naturally the battle occurred again with 200 people making a 90’ turn. After getting through that things calmed down a bit. I actually had a decent swim with a few other minor skirmishes. We were the last wave so there were about 1000 people in front of us for the 2 lap swim. Came out of the water in 11th place, but only 6 minutes out of first. I totally expected this to be more like 10-15 minutes since the Aussies are such good swimmers.
The beginning of the bike was super technical on narrow roads and speed bumps. Starting passing lots of people on the right side (which was a little strange). Had no issues. It then went on to open roads with longer straight aways.
It was 3 * 23 mile laps.
Moved up to 7th by the end of the 2nd lap and was pretty much in that position until the very last lap.
There was just one hill which we did on the way out and back…wish there were more.
It got super windy by the last lap. The bike was actually fairly uneventful. Just lots of sun and wind.
The highlight was on the last lap I caught and passed a guy in my age group. He stayed about 50 yards behind me for most of the last lap then passed me with 1 mile to go. I got back up with him but couldn’t get around him since the streets were so narrow and he was cutting the turns. At the very end there was a long straight away so I started my sprint and got him right at the line. It was awesome, and he was pissed. This got me to 6th. (See Attached Video)
Ended up averaging 22.6 mph and 240 watts over the 70.6 miles. Finished in just under 4 hours at 3:59:13.
Ended up with a nice black eye to show for it, but no real injuries or anything bad. Fortunately it is my bad eye.
I think I’m destined for 6th place as this is what I got in 2019 at the same race in Spain…with a similar sprint finish.
2024 Personal Record (17) and Podium (62) Counter = 78!
PRs (17)
Conner "Farm Boy" Franke (M19-25) 3 - 13.1: Spring Fever Half-Marathon / 70.3: IronMan 70.3 Texas / IronMan 70.3 Boulder
Matt "Jiffy" Lubiak (M50-54) 2 - PR: NYC 13.1 / PR: Maplewood 5K
Tara "Yes I Can" Corduan (F-50-54) 2 - PR: Murray Todd 13.1 / IronMan 70.3 West Mass
Adam "Kaiju" Smith (M35-39) 2 - PR: That Dam Run 13.1 / IronMan 70.3 Boulder
Josh "Colossus" Hoeft (M25-29) 2 - PR: Spring Fever 13.1 / IronMan Texas
Eli "Lethal Weapon" Madden (M30-34) 2 - 10K: Time Travel (Colorado Springs) 10K / Olympic: Boulder Sunset Olympic Tri
Nick Gushing (M25-29) 1 - PR: IronMan 70.3 Boulder
Taylor "Warrior Princess" Veranth (F25-29) 1 - PR: Time Travel (Colorado Springs) 10K
Jason "Magnum" Smith (M40-44) 1 - PR: Time to Paddy 13.1
Eric "Charlemagne" Charlebois (M45-49) 1 - PR: Myrtle Beach 13.1
PODIUMS (62)
Eric "The Butcher" Gutknecht (M50-54) 9 - 4 x 2nd & 2 x 4th AG: KHMTT / 2nd AG: KHMTT Series / 2nd AG: USA Tri Multisport (Omaha) Aquabike / 2nd Overall: Tri-Boulder Beast Aquabike
Andy "The Hammer" Solomon (M50-54) 5 - 1st AG: Jerseyman Half-Lite / 5th AG Navesink / 4th AG: NJ State Olympic Tri / 2nd AG: USA Tri Sprint State Championships / 4th AG: Steelman Olympic Tri
RJ "The Boogie Man" Boergers (M40-44) 4 - 3rd M40-49: Xterra NJ / 5th AG: Navesink / 3rd AG: Wyckoff Tri / 1st AG: Lake Placid Sprint Tri
Josh "Colossus" Hoeft (M25-29) 4 - 2nd Overall: Spring Fever 13.1 / 3rd M Cat 4: KHMTT #01 / 3rd M Cat 4: KHMTT #02 / 3rd M Cat 4: KHMTT #03
Matt "Jiffy" Lubiak (M50-54) 3 - AG: Jerseyman Half-Lite / 2nd Overall Sunset Lake Olympic Tri) / 1st AG: Maplewood 5K
Taylor "Warrior Princess" Veranth (F25-29) 2 - 3rd AG: Colorado Sprint Tri / 1st AG: Steamboat Gravel Tri
Lisa "SheWolf" Rosynsky (F40-44) 2 - 3rd F40-44 / 4th AG: NJ State Sprint Tri / 2nd AG: USA Tri State Sprint Championships
Nat "Legolas" Pitts (F35-39) 2 - 3rd F30-39: That Dam Run 13.1 / 3rd AG: Colorado Sprint Tri
Conner "Farm Boy" Franke (M19-25) 2 - 3rd AG: Spring Fever 13.1 / 2nd AG: Colorado Sprint Tri
Adam "The Kaiju" Smith (M40-44) 1 - 1st Clydesdale: Steamboat Gravel Tri
Jason "Magnum" Smith (M40-44) 1 - PR: 1st AG: Time to Paddy 13.1
Tara "Yes I Can" Corduan (F50-54) 1 - 3rd AG: Murray Todd 13.1
Christine Kachinsky (F50-54) 10 - 3rd Overall Female: Polar Prowl 13.1 / 3rd F50-59: That Dam Run 13.1 / 1st AG Spring Fever 13.1 / 2nd AG: KHMTT #04 / 2nd AG: IronMan 70.3 Hawaii / 1st AG IronMan 70.3 Boulder / 3rd Overall: Tri-Boulder / 1st USA Tri Sprint State Championship Sprint / 4th AG: Boulder Sunset Olympic Tri
John Bye (M55-59) 17 - 1st AG: Polar Prowl 13.1 / 4th M50-59: That Dam Run 10K / 1st M50+ Cat 4: Frostbite TT / 1st M50-59: Spring Fever 10K / 1st M55-59 Cat 4: KHMTT #01 / 3rd Retro M Cat 4/5: KHMTT #01 / 4th M55-59 Cat 4: KHMTT #02 / 2nd M55-59 Cat 4: KHMTT #03 / 5th Retro M Cat 4/5: KHMTT #03 / 1st M55-59 Cat 4: KHMTT #04 / 1st M55-59 Cat 4: KHMTT #05 / 1st M55-59 Cat 4: KHMTT #06 / 3rd M50-54: KHMTT #06 / 1st AG: KHMTT #07 / 1st AG: KHMTT Series / 1st AG: Tri-Boulder Sprint Tri / 1st AG: USA Tri Spring State Championships
Relentless Forward Motion
John
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