North Branch Tri- Wyalusing,PA

Now the race report (feel free to chime in Pats and include anything I forgot!). Pats and I signed up for the North Branch Tri in lovely Wyalusing, PA. We entered as a relay team (appropriately dubbed the Sweaty Darlings) and divvied up the racing like this : Pats-running, Pats and I-kayaking (!), me-cycling. Yes, I said kayaking-more on that in a moment. We left Patsy's flat bright and early last Saturday AM- and it was a good thing she's compulsively early because on our way to the race we got detoured on some empty country roads with absolutely no cell service. We drove around for a while until, finally, something opened and we were able to get a cheesy map and some vague directions from a well-intentioned but not very helpful young lady at a convenience store. We got to the start much later than we had planned so we picked up our timing chip and dropped Pats off at the race start. We then headed over to the bike transition area to set up my bike with the hope that we could make it back to the start of the race in time. We quickly got everything set up and rocketed back to the start. Pats took off like the greyhound that she is while I made my way to the boat launch. I must have lingered too long in the start area because no sooner had I arrived at the boat launch did I hear someone yelling "runners coming!!" A moment of panic ensued because I hadn't even found our kayak yet! After some senseless running around and questioning of people who looked like they had a clue, I found the boat and stuffed myself into my life preserver. I saw Pats come charging into the transition area (first female to get there, by the way!) and I started waving her over. She ran over and said "here's the chip!" and flung the timing chip at me in exchange for a life preserver. All the while I was yelling "wait until we get in the boat!" which caused some confusion because the next thing I see is Pats jumping into the kayak. Unfortunately, we were nowhere near the boat ramp and I had to say "Uh, Pats, I think we need to get this thing into the water!" After some nervous giggling we dragged the kayak to the launch and suddenly found ourselves afloat in the Susquehanna River. It didn't take long for the lead that Pats had gotten us to be completely squandered because of our inability to steer the kayak-I watched other, more skilled people passing us and thought "damn! I wish we knew what we were doing!" We sort of zig-zagged our way down the river, occasionally wreaking havoc by ramming the competition. By some miracle we did not tip the boat and I even managed to get a little birding in. Our river sojourn was quickly over and the next thing I knew we were scrambling up an incredibly muddy river bank into the bike transition area. I took too long pulling off my wet stuff and getting into my bike shoes, etc and managed to waste more time. Finally, after the longest transition on record I jumped aboard my bike and started off. I had done some homework on the route and the GPS said that the ride would be a long, steady climb out and mostly downhill on the way back. Well, it was. Sort of. It was evil and I felt like crap most of the way. I had been getting over a cold and felt dehydrated from the outset. I hit a nasty hill about five miles out and thought that I would either die or throw up (whichever came first) but before I knew it I was at the turnaround point. Psychologically, this was all the motivation I needed to stand up and start hammering my way back to the finish. I had passed a few people on the way to the turnaround but was essentially by myself on the whole ride back. I even managed to do some more birding (saw turkey vultures riding the thermals probably waiting for dead cyclists to snack on). I came around the final bend and saw Pats enthusiastically jumping up and down. I made for the line, dismounted and ran for the groovy blue pads that beep when you run across them. Woohoooo! I survived my first multi-sport event! The cherry on top was the fact that we actually placed! We came in second in our team division- go Sweaty Darlings! Pic here. All in all a fun experience that I hope to repeat in the very near future! The hubby deserves a big shout out for his help with the transitions and for ferrying us back and forth. Thank you Phil! He was also the official SD photog for the day and he got some amusing pics of our river antics.