Xterra Camp Eagle

Xterra Camp Eagle Rocksprings, TX

7th Overall

1st in Age Group

Time

1,53',20"

about 6'14" off leader

The calm before the storm, awaiting the start of the race and listening in on a few jokes been thrown about like hot potatoes. The swim was unique in its own right, the Nueces river had been starved of consistent flow from a year round drought in the greater Texas area and had us wading across to a dam wall after 800yrds of swimming through a narrow channel where we would climb a ladder and take the plunge on the other side to complete the 1mile swim.

With the jokes posing as distractions among the group I some how managed to single out the race director with the starting horn and got the jump on everyone else while eyes were finding the digits on various timing devices and mouths were broadcasting sweet notes. My Garmin yet again coming through with accurate data from an epic day out.

The swim was somewhat of a doubled edged sword with  low water levels  it was hard to navigate to deeper water but once I found the channel (which was actually only about 2-3ft deep) I got into a comfortable tempo and took the point for 200-300yrds, then managed to find some feet and latched on to conserve some energy for the later part of the race.

On my Specialized 29er I found great speed and comfort and got done with the 30km bike course which had us climbing up loose rocky terrain slipping on a marble like surface and proceeding onto a challenging river bed with some shear  rock face drop offs. I found myself on the ground on one occasion where I lost concentration for just a second and missed the right line around a corner.

The 10km run took us across a suspension bridge some 200yrds from the transition, I had some great concern when crossing it as my legs turned to jelly and a floating sensation tingled about my body. I tried to make contact with the bridge but just kept missing the forefoot strike. It wasn't a few seconds later when I realized there was someone hot on my heels and the cause of the oscillating bridge was the sensation I felt in my legs. I breathed a sigh of relief, tightened the screws and hit the trail. A great venue at Camp Eagle and a well organized event by Joel and his crew from Race Revolutions.

A big THANK YOU to Rafael Manias for the Photographs.