This past weekend, XTERRA Charlottesville had quite a bit of rain. Not only did it pour rain all night beforehand, it was still raining on race morning. The race directors made a call to move the bike course to the pavement. Our off-road triathlon had us riding 14 miles. On our mountain bikes. On the pavement.
Still had fun though, and honestly, it was the right call. It preserved some awesome, awesome trails and kept the racers safe. There’s a lot of gnarly rocks on this course and not something you want to be riding wet. There’d certainly be some carnage and cracked noggins.
I had a bit of a weak swim and couldn’t put down the wattage I wanted to on the bike. A slight course confusion on my part cost me a little bit of time as well. I felt really good on the run and was grinning the whole time.
I finished up at 4th overall and 1st in division. Wanted to try and get just one more spot to make it on the overall podium, but alas, I couldn’t run em down.
Race: XTERRA Charlottesville
Location: Charlottesville, VA, USA
Date: August 18, 2013
Distances: 1500m Swim / 14 mile mountain bike / 6 mile trail run
Result: 1st in Division, 4th Overall
Products used: GU Roctane and GU Brew, Schwalbe Racing Ralph and Rocket Ron Tires, Cobb DRT SHC Saddle, ESI Grips, Crank Brothers Candy 11 Pedals.
Afterwards, we headed south to the Devil’s Backbone Brewery for a beer and a monstrous “Smokehouse Burger” that was layered with pork, beef and more pork.
Speedy Lizard 
Well done Marcus. You mentioned wattage in your post – do you use a power meter on your MTB? I’ve been thinking about getting a power meter, and I’m not sure if I’d use it on my road bike or my MTB. Good luck with the rest of the season.
Naw. Just using it as a figure of speech. Used one on a trainer one season, but I’ve never been good at stationary workouts.