THE SOLSTICE - TRIATHLON THE WAY IT USED TO BE


I don't know how triathlon used to be - I wasn't there. But this little race sure makes it seem like an intimate sport, more of an organized recreation than an intense competition.

The Solstice Triathlon, in La Grande Oregon, is now in its 4th year; I've done the even ones. It's an Xterra race, which means several things. Xterra has been around for ten years now, starting with one race in Maui (which has evolved into their World Championship), and expanding to 5 continents, with big races in several European and Antipodal nations, as well as South Africa. They boast a national race series - 40 odd local races, 4 regional ones, and a national championship in Lake Tahoe. The Lake Tahoe one is, all things considered, the best race I've ever been in. The course, the atmosphere, the people, the competition - all seem to hit my sweet spot. But to get there, you Must Qualify. No lottery, no charity spots, no sob stories. You've got to do three local races, and place high enough to get in. It's a masterful growth strategy. The incentive - race at Lake Tahoe in October - is well worth the effort - place high enough in at least three races to qualify for one of the spots in your region (there are nine of them).

So here are the things I like about racing Xterra. First, they guard their franchise. They've always got a rep at the race, ensuring that there is a certain level of quality and ambiance. Second, it's off-road. Meaning mountain biking and trail running, and quite possibly cold or choppy water, or no oxygen (or all three). I have no clue how to race a mountain bike fast. For me, it's like skiing - something I do to have a little fun. So I get out of race mode, and into accomplishment mode. Third, there's a lot more variety to the experience. In regular triathlon, there are fewer ways to get a unique race experience: different distance, elevation changes, and weather permutations are about it. Off-road, the trail permutations are almost endless: gravel, sand, steep ups and downs, rocks, grass, creek crossings, fallen logs - the environment is constantly changing. Its as much about strength and skill as it is about endurance.

The Solstice is held at Morgan lake, in the Blue Mountains above La Grande in Oregon's Northeast corner. This range, while somewhat mesa-like (no rugged rocky peaks here), still catches updraft weather from the Palouse below. At 4100 feet, the lake was cold (57F this year), and high enough to suck a bit of oxygen from the swimmers. It's only 1000 meters, but 19 minutes is plenty long in those conditions. The sunny morning had shifted to clouds, with impending drizzle, by the time I turned my bike off the little gravel runway onto the first single track around the lake. A deceptive little trail, filled with embedded rocks causing rapid speed and direction shifts, the first hike-a-bike comes less than a mile in with the walk up from the lake to the mesa top. We enter ranch country, going basically down down down on a grassy jeep trail, then up, up, up on a pea gravel boulevard. At the top, about 1500 feet up, we enter a world of goat trails, which go either straight down, narrowly thru rocky defiles, or across a high meadow full of bogs. And then end up with a final hike (remember the first downhill - the start of it is 23 degrees), and back thru the woods around the lake. By this time, it has started to rain, and my plan to strip off my bike shirt to sleeveless top goes out the window - I should have kept the extra sleeves on, too!

Two years ago, I raced this one pretty hard, but still got beat on the run, which, while pleasing to the eye, is really brutal. Except for that little bit around the lake (done at the end here), its all on what appears to be smooth gravel road, or grass covered ATV track. BUT ... it's all either steep up, steep down, or, the part that's flat, is thru a cow-pasture, with the grass grown so high it covers rocks and hoof holes in the dried bog.Two years ago, in the cow pasture, I was trying to pass another 54 y/o, after jamming thru the downhill thinking I could make it up on the flats. Ha! The flats are anything but at foot level. Two-thirds of the way thru, I fell, tearing a glove, ripping some skin, and dislocating, or breaking, my left pinkie finger, which STILL hasn't healed back to normal.

This year, by the time I get out of that (and head back up hill), my shoes are sopping from the rain and dew soaked knee high grass. Going up the final rise, I see ahead of me one of the women who passed me on the bike. I catch her in the woods, half way thru the rocks around the lake. Then, I spy another target, really slogging it out on this tricky surface. I've got a lot left (I've been saving it for the Ironman next week), and pick up the pace. I can see that  it's Chris Robinson, an Xterra fanatic from Vancouver WA who's three years my junior. I used to beat him, but he's really worked on his biking, and now makes up the advantage I have on him in the swim and the run (I got about 9 minutes on him in the two disciplines in this race). I think I can get him as we come out of the rocks onto the last smooth gravel curve into home. He hears me coming, and gets into his own high gear. I step on the gas, but discover my shoes each weigh about three pounds, and my usual kick is more of a flail. No Chance in these conditions, so I lose to him by 3 seconds. And, because this is Xterra, we embrace at the finish, laughing at the conditions (it's pouring rain now). I commiserate when he shows me there's no pedal on his left crank. He claims to have finished the last half of the race like this - a dubious proposition, given how fast I saw him going when he passed me about an hour into the bike, mashing with both feet.

This year, though, I achieved all three of my goals: don't get hurt, finish the race, and feel good on the run. I got my points, and need two more races to make sure I go back to Tahoe on October.
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