Fixed Gear Triathlon

As anyone who has spoken to me in the last few months knows, I ran my first triathlon on Sunday. It probably goes without saying, but I was pretty excited about this event and had trained for quite a while.

The biking portion was the part I anticipated giving me the most trouble, and I was right. I recently purchased a used 2006 Bianchi Pista fixed gear bike. I really like the bike, but had only been on it a handful of times before the race. Common sense should dictate that riding a single speed bike through the rolling hills of Carroll County is not the best plan.

Every time I told someone about this plan to ride the fixed gear, I got scowls and disapproving heads shaking back and forth, telling me how bad of an idea this was. So, to solve this problem, I just stopped telling people about the bike. I was hanging out with a couple guys before the race who inevitably asked about my bike. I merely told them that it was a Bianchi and left out the fact that it was a fixed. It wasn’t until after the race that they heard I rode the fixed gear and were somewhat amazed, and also probably thought that I was a complete idiot.

Here are my times from the race:

400 meter swim – 10:15
14 mile bike – 1:09:56
5k run – 25:39
Total – 1:50:01

I’m pretty pleased with my times, but as you can see, the fixie definitely slowed me down. There were several times when I was pedaling as hard as possible up a hill and barely moving. Then I’d hear that unmistakable sound of someone switching to easy gear and zooming past me up the hill, only to cruise down.

There was only one time, however, when I thought I could possibly die. I was flying down one hill to attempt to get enough speed to climb another when my left foot popped out of the strap. This must have been quite a sight. I was tearing down this hill with my left leg just hanging to the side while the pedals spin uncontrollably. Before I flew off my bike and scraped all of my skin off, I was able to lightly apply my one brake enough to regain control.

I think I could have easily shaved 15-20 minutes off my time if I had a geared bike. If I decide to do another triathlon, it will probably be a longer one, and I will most likely use a normal road bike.