Boiling Frog: Tri #2 - Black Bear Olympic Triathlon, Lehighton, PA

Hard to believe the second tri of the year has come and gone (one more till the big dance)! This was the Black Bear Olympic Triathlon in beautiful Beltzville State Park, Lehighton, PA on June 3, 2012. What a great event to share with friends from Philly Tri Club and Team TriSports!

Setting up transition with Renee

Our day started out sunny, but a little chilly (the 68-degree water temp. was warmer than the air!). My wave of orange caps was last to go, but the Beltzville Lake 1500-meter swim was beautiful and serene (no kicks to the face this time!).

Jim, Pol, Chris, Sara, Frank & Renee ready to rock!

After a bit of an uphill run out of transition (I thought the run was third!), it was on to the 24-mile bike. Though this course is familiar, the hills are always a killer (and watch out for the potholes!)! Zod maneuvered through fine, despite a dropped chain on a downhill and Chris and The Captain managed to survive nearly getting “plowed” over by some oncoming farm equipment! That would’ve made an interesting “Area Man…” story!!

Headed for T2!

As I was coming in to T2, one of the volunteers shouted, “One leg to go . . . this is your strongest one!” How did he know?! The 6.2-mile run was awesome—everything but paved with a combination of gravel, dirt and grass surfaces (a dream to run on!). It was great being able to see and cheer on all of our friends on the two-loop course.

Chris gunning for the finish!

Finish line in sight!

Then, on to the finish line where fellow PTCer Bob Mina announced all of our names with the utmost enthusiasm! We were all fortunate enough to have raced in beautiful, sunny weather, but had to dodge a rain storm after the awards ceremony on the long, arduous journey back to the car! Thanks to all of our friends, the race organizers and volunteers for making this an overall spectacular day!