Giving it a go at XTERRA Curt Gowdy

The Tour has finally started, and that means I have a bit of time to, well, sit around and type while watching the best event around.

I've said for almost a decade, "One of these days I'll do some swimming and sign up for a few XTERRAs."  One of these days finally came around.  XTERRA tris are like road tris in two important ways:
1. Biking follows swimming
2. Running follows biking
They are also different:
1. The biking and running are done on trails instead of roads
2. Before and after the race, you say hello to your competitors instead of staring them down

The atmosphere at Curt Gowdy State Park in Wyoming was laid back and fun, and the race organization did an exceptional job throughout.  We had a great family road trip, and the race went well.  I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Sara Tarkington took it out hard on the swim.  I had the 56th fastest swim time and had some work to do.

The bike and run went much better, and I was able to grab the fastest time on each.  The Yeti was perfect for the  technical terrain.

Sara won the women's race.

Ryan Ignatz, and old friend from CU, took the race and I finished second.

You know it's a good weekend if you look like this at the end of it.