A Team Effort

Our hero grimaces. "Damn bugs," he mutters and spits.

He is in the tri-position, cutting through the air at 18 mph, forming a triangle on his trusty steed, out in the open fields of St Peters, MO. So far, so good: he has maintained his lead over the dreaded Jim G during the swim, and had a relatively good T1. Despite awakening at 5:45 am, his legs feel energized. It is 8 am. The sun beats down on a long stream of cyclists, who have emerged from the long winter to celebrate the first tri of the summer. Our hero looks ahead to the turn-around point, halfway of the 20 mile bike. No sight of his nefarious arch-rival since the swim.

Parched, he pulls the water bottle up to his lips. Zounds! In an instant, the bottle slips and falls to the ground. He stops to retrieve it and notices the mileage indicator on his bike: 666 miles.

Not good: evil is in the air. Our hero's nostrils flare at the sense of danger.

Soon, at the halfway point, he glances backwards: Double zounds! The insidious Jim G has closed the gap, and is merely a few lengths back, seemingly appearing out of nowhere!

As the two cyclists bear down, Jim approaches, inexorably. He pulls his water bottle and good-naturedly tries to spray our hero. They smile. They chat.

But the subtext is clear: game on.

With his spinning-class training over the winter, Jim G pulls into the lead. Our hero grunts and tries to stay close, but not so close as to incur a drafting penalty. They cycle this way for over 7 miles, each rider giving no quarter to the other.

Finally, with 2 miles to go in the bike, our hero pulls alongside of the villain. They chat again. Father's Day. Sunny. Pleasantries abound, but the time is getting near....

They approach a hill: a long grade that stretches for 1/4 mile. Our hero's legs are already burning. A strong runner, he will probably win that leg of the event, but the time to make hay is now. A triathlete can never concede a leg, and certainly not the bike, where the high velocity equates to bigtime distance, compared to the run.

Our hero grimaces once more, and then, miraculously, the calvary arrives... A new player awakens and joins the fray.

Blackbird! More commonly known as one half of a semi-organic velocitizer, our hero's trusty steed seems to shed weight as they ascend the slope. The team transforms from a velocity vehicle to an anti-gravitron device! In virtually no time, the dreaded Jim G and his evil, unnamed steed fall back. At the halfway part of the grade, he is dozens of lengths back. Our hero peddles furiously -- almost impotently -- in a super-easy gear but he and Blackbird pull up the grade as though on a rope-pull at a ski slope. At the top, a long descent, and then a curve. At the end of the curve, the villain is no longer in sight!

Blackbird and our hero quickly dispatch the rest of the bike leg. With a friendly pat to his glorious steed, he transitions at T2 and dashes off for the run. With the heat beating down, and having suffered a major psychological blow, Jim G has no chance. 40 minutes and 5 grueling miles later, CC crosses the finish line in triumph.

CC/Blackbird 1 Jim G 0