It’s been a little bit since the end of the 2021 triathlon season. For us, our season looked a bit different than normal, due to not having a strong on-campus presence until the fall. This knocked out racing at the Season Opener, leaving our traditional race at Buzzards’ Bay as the only race on our calendar for the entire year. As a senior now, this was my last fall race with the team so I unhesitatingly signed up for our mini-training trip. Having not swam more than once in the 19 months since Dartmouth’s last fully in-person term in winter 2020, I feared that my hesitance around water would return in full force during what I could only describe as a daunting swim, having only purchased my bike a month before, and having not run long mileage weeks to keep strain off hurting legs, I was a bit apprehensive that I would make it through a triathlon in one piece and/or without a complete collapse. While I couldn’t completely eradicate these concerns and still race, I could at least put myself in familiar ground in the duathlon (somewhere I have pretty good results already) and eliminate my swimming fears.
Max Performance, the organizers of Buzzards’ Bay Tri/Du, scheduled the race for the Sunday of the first weekend of the term, so we had to opt for driving down the night before the race, staying at a local hotel, and heading to the race site in the morning. As one of the team’s drivers (shoutout to Joe, Thomas, and most importantly my van’s codriver Ian for also stepping up and being amazing drivers) I had a very important job of bringing half of our crew to the race site and back to Hanover, and it definitely gave the whole racing experience a very different feel to both have a great race myself and to also help other people get the most out of their racing experience. Despite having only raced one triathlon and one duathlon with the team previously, I was one of the more senior members and I enjoyed seeing many other team members complete their first triathlon with the team.
Honestly, my race almost didn’t even happen. When we got to the race site and started unpacking our bikes for the trailer, I realized that I was missing the single most important piece of metal for my racing: my bike’s through axle. In my packing, I had put my through axle into a pocket of a bag where I wouldn’t lose it, and it turns out I sure hadn’t lost it but instead just forgot to pack it. After a mild panic attack and thinking that my race was done for and that I’d just be cheering from the sideline instead, Jackson had the bright idea of using the trailers axles that we used to mount the bikes to the wall as my through axle. Sure enough that axle fit like a glove, and while it was definitely heavier than my real through axle it would get the job done and I’d be able to finish my race without a hiccup. Glad to even be able to race, I decided to go out there onto the course with no expectations and make the most of the racing experience. Sure enough, my lack of expectations led me to posting the fastest run 1 time in the whole race, and falling apart half a mile away from the finish line on my way to a third place finish in the duathlon, about 45 seconds ahead of fellow teammate Maia Madison ’23.
It’s been a while (specifically, a few months) since the race, but even thinking back on it now reminds me of many of the reasons why I love being a part of Tri Team. The energy, despite being hard to describe and feel without truly being there yourself is electric, and to feel that energy again after such a long time with no races on my agenda was incredible. I’m a firm believer that the race is only half as good as the people that you’re racing with, and this race really reminded me about how amazing our team presence is at races. And as we turn toward 2022 which is shaping up to be yet another year of uncertain plans, I don’t know where exactly we’ll find ourselves going as a team, but I do know that we’ll bring all our energy and positivity – and then some – there with us.
About the Author
Connor Spencer is a ’22 double majoring in math and computer science, and is going into the software engineering field after graduating in June. Connor also runs Dartmouth Triathlon’s website and blog and is an officer for the Dartmouth Magic: the Gathering Club, and when not SBR-ing can be found leading Hanover’s Pokémon Go community, enjoying salads far too large for the bowls at Foco, or overengineering a spreadsheet.
Image credit: Dartmouth Alumni Magazine
