This weekend I was in Kingston for the long course triathlon. During my time in the city, I stopped by the flea market and actually found an old straight razor. This particular razor was dull and covered in rust, but I saw the potential for it to be awesome... it was high quality metal with bone scales...definitely a winner.
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| My newest razor for the collection |
Now you may wonder why I wanted to talk about a rusty old razor to start this post. One of the reasons is because the race in Kingston didn't really go so well. I kinda had this thing where I missed a turn, and then got DQ right before the finish line. Lets just say a sign for a turn on the bike was very small and unclear (with no other indicators given that this was a turn), and both myself and race leader Jordan Monnink missed the turn. Off course=DQ for the 2 race leaders.
I did pretty much finish the race (save the 100m at the end), and for the time I was racing, I was feeling great.
Now lets bring this together...razors and triathlon. Razor cuts are not a good thing (especially on such a handsome face). But shaving with a straight blade has its risks, and cuts are going to happen. Similar situation with triathlon. Getting a DQ is not a good thing. However nothing is ever certain in racing, and almost anything can happen on race day.
This weekend, it was a missed turn. Was I fully to blame? Definitely debatable. Does it change the fact that I cut the course? Nope.
I'm not going to say I wasn't upset with my DQ...I was definitely not happy. Kinda like when I cut my face in shaving...upset and not happy. But shaving cuts aren't going to stop me from straight razoring...in fact they just make me strive to get better (and buy more razors). Similarly DQ's aren't going to stop me from racing, and I can only aim to improve. As is the situation in both, you initially say some not nice words, but then re-assess why something went wrong. Although nothing is a guarantee, hopefully the next time, you go in a bit wiser and walk away unscathed.
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| I finished the race, but they didn't count my time |
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| 2 race leaders and 2 DQ's |
A big thanks to Multisport Canada for their support and for adopting this race into their schedule. Although I wasn't happy with course signage, I know next year they are going to make sure that turn is clear.
Continued thanks to my family for their support (and cheers this weekend). Also thanks to my sponsors eLoad nutrition for keeping me hydrated on a hot day, and to Nineteen Wetsuits for keeping me comfortable in choppy water.
The issue appeared to be that a smaller and original K-Town Tri sign was used to mark the turn and this caused the confusion. In the interest of being perfectly clear and having all of the facts, this turn was mentioned very specifically during the pre-race briefing and was on all of the course maps, both at the race site and online since January.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment John. I did see the sign, and just made the wrong choice when deciding which way to go. It was either stick with Jordan or make the turn down the rode by myself...
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