2008 Yam City Triathlon in Opelousas, LA June 22, 2008

Hello, my name is Chad Soileau, and this is my account of swimming, biking and running the Yam City Triathlon in Opelousas, Louisiana on 22 June 2008.  The distances of this race were 150m swim, 14 mile bike and a 2 mile run.   Yam City was relatively short compared to my other races but it was well organized and a blast to participate in.

My girlfriend and BR Tri's 'unofficial' photographer Beth hurt her back earlier in the week so she decided she wasn't gonna Yam it up in Opelousas Sunday morning.  Fellow triathlete Chris Boggs was nice enough to give me a ride to Opelousas so I met at his house at 4:50AM.  Chris, David Aguillard and I left for the one hour drive to Opelousas just after 5AM. 

We arrived at the race site just after 6AM.   Yawning, I slowly rolled my bike to the registration table to get my race packet and get body marked.  The race was set to start at 7:30 AM but if this race were like all of my other races that hour and a half would fly by seeming like only 15 minutes.   I prepared my transition area and went out for a short half mile jog.  I felt good.   I knew before the race even started that it would be a good day.

At 7:20AM the race director called for everyone to line up by number around the pool.   Each racer would have a 10 second delay from the racer in front of him.  My bib number was 75 so I would have to wait 12 minutes for my race to begin.  It's weird because even though this was a EXTREMELY short swim to what I have been accustomed to over the past couple months I was more apprehensive over this swim that I was for some of the longer open water swims.   I think it had to do with the Chuck Norris roundhouse kick that I received in Athens that had me a little nervous.  I told the lady behind me that I was slow and asked her to please just tap me on the foot and I would get out of her way and let her pass.

As I was waiting for my start I noticed a swimmer that was clearly struggling on his first lap of the pool.  He reminded me a lot of my struggle in Athens.  He probably put his 150m swim time down wrong (just like I did for Athens) when registering because he was number 14 if I remember correctly.   He had already rolled on his back on the second lap and was having some serious issues.  I felt for him but it was such a short swim that he would be out of the water soon. 

The water felt good as I walked down the steps and prepared to start my race.   The timer counted down from 5 and motioned me to start.   I pushed hard off the steps and was officially on my way for the Yam City Triathlon.

Any nervousness was gone as I headed to the far side of the pool.   I was calm and collected for the entire swim and get this...  I, slow ass swimmer Chad, not only tapped the guy's foot that was in front of me to pass but I ALSO  tapped the guy that was in front of HIM.   Who'd have thought I would pass not one but TWO people in the swim.  Heh, I guess they were hella slow for me to pass them.  The lady behind me did pass me but I stayed in her bubbles for the last two lengths of the pool and we exited at the same time.

I ran to transition and slipped on my BR Tri hot pantz, my bike shoes, my helmet and sun glasses and headed out to the mount point.   On my Saturday ride with a group of BR Tri guys I heard something rattling on my bike.   Turns out that rattle was a loose spoke on my front wheel.   For the entire bike course I felt like a kid that wedged a playing card in the spokes because that's exactly what I sounded like.   Every revolution of my wheel the loose spoke hit the frame of my bike and made a clacking sound.   Within the first mile Boggs flew past me and I heard the familiar 'whomp whomp whomp" as another guy with a rear disc wheel passed me.   Those two bikes were the only time I was passed on the course.   I know I passed at least 15 bikes and averaged 21 - 21.5 mph for the entire ride.   This was by far my best bike yet.  It was only 14 miles but I pushed myself hard for the entire route.   The only problem I had during the bike was a half mile stretch heading back to T2 where the road absolutely sucked ass.   We were warned by the race director before the race about this stretch of pavement but I wasn't prepared for it as it nearly rattled the teeth out of my mouth.   Any paved road where you can spot patches of grass growing in it isn't a road that you want to ride a road bike on.  At around a quarter mile from transition I unfastened my velcro from my right shoe and slid my foot out.  I had every intention to try to do a flying dismount but I chickened out and ended up unclipping my left foot right before dismount and going into transition with one shoe attached to my bike and clopping around with my shoe still on my other foot.   I must have looked like an idiot.   As a side note, it turns out I was VERY fortunate because after the race when I went to roll the bike back to the truck the tire was flat.   Apparently, sometime after dismounting the spoke punctured my front tire. 

I rushed out of T2 after slipping on my shoes and putting on my Team 464 jersey.  I can proudly say that nobody passed me on the run.  I passed plenty but I was not passed.   The course was flat and meandered through a small neighborhood.   When I reached the aid station at mile 1 I dumped 4 cups of water on my head and upped my pace as much as I could for the last mile.   The sun was blazing at this point and the ice cold water helped me for a short time to increase my pace.   I felt great for the entire run and I finished in just over 17 minutes. 

My finish time for the race was just over 1:03.  I wanted to break an hour but I think my time in T1 dicking around with my broken spoke cost me that.   I'll take 1:03.   That's respectable for me.   And what's even more respectable is I finished the race with both socks.   ANY race I finish with both my socks is a GREAT race!

Thanks for reading my race report of the 2008 Yam City Triathlon.  I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing (and living) it.