The race started with an in-water start (not my favorite) and I got beat up a little bit more than I envisioned. I lost some ground but was able to swim my way back up to the front of the main pack by 400 meters in. Cam Dye was off the front (as expected) and I just sat in for the rest of the swim. I exited the water in seventh and during the half mile run to T1 I moved up to third.

After fumbling around with my TT helmet for far too long I made it out onto the bike. Cam Dye was way up the road and Mark Fretta and Matt Reed were about 50 meters up. Mark got away from Matt and I eventually caught and passed Mr. Reed myself. At the 20K turnaround I was third on the road about 1.5 minutes down on Cam Dye and 45 seconds down from Fretta. For the last 20K I made sure to stay focused and tried to minimize the time gaps. Starykowicz passed me in the last 10K but he was the only person to get me – definitely a good sign to only get passed by Starky over 40K! I entered T2 almost two minutes down on Dye, 1:20 down on Fretta, and 25 seconds back from Starky. Filip Ospaly was right with me and we headed out onto the run together.

At this point I should probably mention that it was 95+ degrees with no cloud cover – it was hot!! I tried to run with Ospaly but he dropped me quickly as I was incredibly tight from holding my TT position for so long. I caught Starky and Dye by mile two so again I was third on the road. I could see Fretta on some of the longer straightaways but I was just trying to keep Ospaly within reach and not succumb to the blistering heat. Finally I started to loosen up around mile three and noticed that I was starting to reel Ospaly back in. I really started flying around mile four. I re-caught Ospaly and cut Mark’s lead in half during the last two miles but it became obvious that I was going to run out of room. I finished comfortably in second (comfortably meaning that Ospaly was almost a minute back in third. My physical state was nowhere near comfortable – ‘impending heat stroke’ seems like a better description).

I would normally post a glorious picture of me on the podium but the awards ceremony was canceled. Mark and I have a theory that we ruined the Chicago Triathlon by beating all of the ‘standard’ podium finishers and thus the awards ceremony was not necessary…but in reality the USADA anti-doping control just took too long after the race! Either way, Mark and I pretty much own the city of Chicago Michael Jordan style at this point. I’m sure next time I show up at O’Hare I’ll be greeted with Limos and swept away to the Imperial Suite of the Hilton Chicago. Or not…

Overall it was an excellent weekend in Chicago with lots of deep dish pizza and OTC athletes occupying two out of three podium spots in both the men’s and women’s races (virtual podium spots of course. Did I mention that there was no real podium? Well there wasn’t). Now I just need to rest up and stay sharp for Budapest!

Fretta was probably more surprised than anyone else about his win. Yep this is the same guy who told me he expected to be fifth at best!

On another note, I’m racing at the Chicago Triathlon next weekend. The last time I raced there was 2008 and it was a blast so I can’t wait to get back there. I love the 11:57 AM start time. No 4:00 AM wake up calls in Chicago!

The trip to Europe was by no means a waste as I gained invaluable experience and even a few Olympic points (you can never have too many Olympic points, right?!). I roomed with Ben “I went to H&M and bought a bunch of shirts so now I look super-Euro” Collins – our names are similar so the hotel staff thought we were one person that went to the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet two times every morning. This resulted in a 40 quid bill on our room at checkout. After presenting conclusive evidence that we are in fact two separate people, they didn’t charge us. Oh and one quid = 1 pound. I really just wanted to somehow use the word “quid” in my blog.

Thanks to our team doc Andy Gerken for taking some of these pics:

We had a team photo shoot near Westminster Abbey. This is Jarrod and his wife Alicia with Big Ben in the background.

Laura Bennett by a typical red London phonebooth.

We were all a little embarrassed to be standing around in our race suits on the busy sidewalks of London, but some cool pics came of it.

I was right next to the younger Brownlee in transition.

On the bike in the race. It might not look like it but I’m suffering pretty badly!

I got the strong arm from Bevan Docherty on the first lap of the swim. Bevan is known for being one of the nicest guys on the ITU circuit but also as one of the most cut-throat racers out there. According to Manny Huerta I’m lucky he didn’t just shove me back in the water while using me as leverage! Photo courtesy of Andy Gerken.

The women on the run. We used to turn around at the big beer but the course was lengthened using these cones after being criticized for not being a true 10K in years past.

I rarely appear in the ITU’s race photo galleries but I finally made it in one. I was the first to rack my bike in transition before the race – for this I received a round of applause from the grandstands and a couple of photographers documenting my every move!

I do have an exciting announcement: I am now part of a new program by the New York Athletic Club designed to support Olympic hopefuls in the sport of triathlon! The New York Athletic Club has a long history of supporting Olympians and Olympic hopefuls in sports like water polo, track and field, and wrestling (to name just a few) and I am very happy to be a part of the NYAC. A few other athletes in the program are Jarrod Shoemaker, Sarah Groff, Bec Wassner, and Laurel Wassner.

The NYAC logo…I love the winged foot but if I’m going to have it on my uniform I better start running fast!

Here are some pics of what’s happened lately:

My parents came to visit after HyVee. We went to the top of Pike’s Peak – 14,110 ft!

We took the cog railroad to the top.

I went up to the Retul studio in Denver for a bike fit with Todd Carver. I think we made some good changes and I’m excited about my new position.

Since HyVee I have been doing a lot of training on the bike with Mr. Mark Fretta. On one of our rides he found a dollar and got pretty excited.

My swim was excellent! I exited the water in the front pack only 30 seconds down from the leaders. This was great since my swim was off for the first few races of the season. Onto the bike I was in the front pack within half of a lap (2.5K of riding) – the only problem was that it was just so much harder than normal to get there. When I was safely in the pack I tried to rest and recover at the back knowing the field would soon string out again as we exited transition onto lap two, but it was like I couldn’t get in enough oxygen. When the field finally did string out I got DROPPED!!! At this point I knew something must be wrong, so I pulled over to check out my bike. A quick visual inspection revealed nothing out of the ordinary – no brakes rubbing, no flat tires, no gremlins slowly dismantling my bike. I looked back to see the Chris Foster train rounding the corner, so I quickly remounted my bike and got up to speed. I joined Chris’ chase group, regrouped mentally, helped out a bit in the pace line and eventually re-made the front pack. Huh? I just got dropped by these guys, how am I helping to bridge back up? The rest of the bike was hard for me as the accelerations out of each turn were almost too much for me to handle. Onto the run my struggle continued and I fought hard for 48th place. Ouch!

Needless to say it is my opinion that this race doesn’t reflect my current fitness in any way. The only other time I felt that bad in a race was the 2008 Scott Tinley’s Adventure’s Triathlon where I got beat by almost everyone including the girls! Ha, I’m pretty pathetic sometimes. Anyways, it’s back to the training for now and I should be back to racing in Hamburg next month.

Reason #1: no more cables for the derailleurs! The derailleur cable routing on both my bikes is gloriously empty. No cables means no more dealing with ‘stretching’ and adjusting the shifting all the time. Which brings me to reason #2…

Dialing in the shifting is a breeze: just press the small button on the indicator console (see picture) and the rear derailleur goes into ‘micro adjust’ mode (indicated by the red light). Use the shifting buttons to make micro adjustments until the shifting is dialed in.

Reason #3: shifting is a incredibly easy. Those may look like shift levers but they are actually just buttons. Press them like you would normal shift levers and small motors in the front and rear derailleurs do the work for you. Also, since there are no levers there is no shifting noise. This means you can be somewhat stealthy when you attack out of a group – no more clicking noises! You won’t announce your attack to the whole peloton when you drop it down three gears. (Reason #4)

Reason #5: You can shift the front derailleur under full power. So if you crest a hill and need a big gear fast just press the button and continue to hammer – no need to let up while the derailleur moves. Speaking of the derailleurs, the whole Di2 system is always aware of what gears you are in for both the front and rear. As you move through the gears with the rear derailleur, the front derailleur automatically auto-trims to prevent chain rub. That’s reason #6.

The Di2 battery. You might wonder, “What if the battery dies?” That brings me to reason #7: When the battery dies the front derailleur stops working first and you have about 50 shifts left for the rear. This should be enough to get you home. In my opinion this is better than the analogous mechanical situation where your derailleur cable snaps and slams you into the hardest gear you have.

Of course you should never be caught with a dead battery since you have this indicator console – it flashes red when your battery is about to die. With 1000 miles of riding per charge (that’s approximate) and 1.5 hours to recharge, you should really never have any power problems.

Reason #8: no more bar end shift levers on your TT bike – just sleek, aerodynamic buttons.

Reason #9 is, in my opinion, the coolest thing of all: Shift buttons on the aero brake levers. Ever get caught on a long climb in your TT bike and have to reach out to the aero bars to shift? Well that’s no longer necessary!

Reason #10: the Di2 rear derailleur. You won’t find more precise shifting on any other component group in the world. It’s just that good!

In other news it appears that my random twitter ruminations and Simon Whitfield’s re-tweets pulled Annabel Luxford from an injury induced writer’s block. It’s a great post by Annabel and definitely a recommended read – especially those who are currently injured (like Ms. Speildenner)!

Third, my new bikes are almost ready to go. Soon I’ll have a 2010 Orbea Orca and Ordu in matching blue with Di2. Thanks to Joe from Davis Wheel Works in Davis, CA for flying out here to put them together. He is the best mechanic I know! Below is a picture of how the Orca looked last night. I’m sure this nullifies my Orbea warranty…but running the Di2 cables internally (rather than externally and taped to the frame) will save me from the worry that the TSA will rip the cables off during baggage inspections. Also, it just looks better.

As for the Di2 (electronic Dura Ace), here is a great video on Simon Whitfield’s blog that explains how it works and why it’s awesome!

Me with my rental car.

This was the final racing voyage of the Orbea Orca that used to have a big hole in the top tube.

Korean BBQ!