From: walker@mishi.metaphor.com (John Walker)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.triathlon
Subject: Donner Lake Triathlon
Date: 22 Jul 92 17:02:54 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Metaphor Computer Systems, Mountain View, CA

Donner Lake Triathlon - July 19, 1992
International Distance Tri-Fed/USA Regional Championship (Western Region).
1.5K Swim, 40K bike 10+K run (6.5 miles)

The swim is in Donner Lake, just north of Lake Tahoe in the Sierra
Nevadas.  At an altitude of 5900, this is a crystal clear mountain
lake.  It is rather chilly also, with expected water temperature
of 60-65 degrees Fahrenheit. The swim course goes straight
out about 700 meters (directly into the sun), turns right for 
100 meters, and then turns right again to return the last 700 
meters to the finish.  Unlike 1991 when fog delayed the start, 
this year the morning dawned cool and sunny.  This promised to be 
near perfect weather for the race.  The first 200 meters of this 
swim always seem particularly tough, since you altitude to deal 
with in addition to the usual sprint at the beginning of the 
race (At least those of us who live at sea level have altitude 
to deal with).  My time on the swim suggests that the course was
a little short.

The bike course is an out and back ride on old Highway 40
which goes over Donner Pass and accumulates 2350 feet of
climbing over its 40 kilometers.  After leaving the transition 
area and going 100 meters, racers turn left and start the 
3.5 mile, 1300 foot climb to Donner Pass.  This is easily 
one of the most beautiful roads I have ridden on my bicycle. 
The road seems to have been carved out of the rocky mountainside, 
giving numerous spectacular vistas of Donner Lake and the 
surrounding Sierras.  After the climb, the course begins a rather 
steady drop of 1000 feet over the next 8-9 miles to the 
turnaround.  A friend says the climb on the return trip is 
very similar to the climb in the Bud Light Las Vegas event. 
Once at the top of Donner Summit on the return trip, it is 
time for an exhilerating descent back down to the lake. The 
road is closed and racers are allowed 1 1/2 lanes for the 
descent (other half lane is for racers climbing).  With this 
much room, the turns do not require much braking, and you can 
pretty easily maintain speeds near 40mph for most of the descent.
However, the wrecked cars over the edge of the cliffs attest
to what can happen if you spend too much time enjoying the
view, so most racers ride the downhill rather conservatively.  
It was very nice to see all the draft marshalls on the course.  
It seemed as if there was a motorcycle in view every few minutes
during the bike.

The run is a 6.5 mile counterclockwise loop around Donner Lake.
Afer climbing 300 feet in the first two miles, it quickly
drops back to lake level and stays flat for the remaining
4+ miles.  Except for two sections of dirt (about 700 meters
total), the run course is entirely paved.

Prize money of $4000 was offered to the top 7 men and women to
register in the elite division.  Only 4 women registered as
elite, so I know there must have been a few regretting their
decision (elite athletes are not eligible for age group awards).

Results:

       Elite Men                     Elite Women
1. Gary Werner Flacke 2:00:58    Lisa Verke    2:22:33
2. Mike Osier         2:02:10    Julie Verke   2:24:32
3. Andrew Kelsey      2:03:23    Janine Daley  2:24:43
4. Jon Black          2:04:15
5. Ryan Huckabay      2:04:58
6. Scott Miller       2:05:03
7. Ty Nickel          2:05:13

Gary Werner Flacke's time set a new course record. Carol
Montgomery's 1991 time of 2:20:06 still stands as the
women's record.

As for me, in my third triathlon this year, I finally had a decent
race.  Instead of my legs dying, they felt reasonably strong throughout
the race and I finished in 2:26:38.  As you could probably tell 
from the descriptions above, my favorite part was the descent at 
the end of the race (I enjoy the view the day before so I can 
concentrate on the road during the race).

					-- John
-- 
----------------------------------------------------
John Walker                Metaphor Computer Systems
walker@metaphor.com        Mountain View, CA
----------------------------------------------------