High Cliff Aqua Bike-Checking a Box

 

"The arrow that hits the bulls-eye is the result of a hundred misses." -Buddhist Proverb

On  Sunday, June 19th I raced the Highcliff Aqua bike in Sherwood, Wisconsin.  I love this race because it takes place in a Wisconsin State Park. The park is on Lake Winnebago and has wonderful wooded hiking trails. There are no hotels nearby so I always tent camp which I love.

I selected this race as part of my quest to complete the USA Triathlon requirement for the Multi-Sport athlete award. To qualify I had to complete two races duathlon, aqua bike, and aquathlon.  I assumed that the award would be done by age group with one also awarded to a para-athlete. I found out about a week before the race only one male and female athlete for the whole country would be selected. So I have no chance, but completing the requirements gives me a goal.

Every race has its own challenges. This one has a lake with a shallow swim that can have huge waves on race day. It also has a really huge hill right out of transition. Since I have done the long-distance aqua bike here twice, I was prepared for those.

I was not expecting the noise in the campground the night before the race.  I was actually getting some sleep until 3 am when the college kids across from me woke me up with drunken noise. They got yelled at by someone and yelled for an apology. Fifteen minutes later a huge fight broke out between one of the couples on the other side of me. There was swearing and screaming. I thought someone was going to get hurt. It was now 3:45. I was now wide awake and decided to just get up and drive to the race site. It takes about 5 minutes.  I watched YouTube videos until transition opened at 5 am. The funny thing is I was not even the first person there. I did get my choice of parking spots.'

I had looked over the race participant list the day before. There were only two women in the entire Sprint Aquabike race I was doing. That was good because awards were going to be made to the top three men and women in the race. As I set up in transition I found out the woman next to me was my competition. We were also about the same age. We both assured each other we were not fast and did not expect to beat each other.

The swim was pretty routine except for the really steep wooden ramp going into the water. If I had been racing as a PC athlete, I would have asked for accommodation to get around that ramp. The swim had some waves but was uneventful

I got up the big hill coming out of transition just fine, but just a little past that I down-shifted my bike and I heard an ominous clunk. The chain had dropped off of the chain ring.   I pulled to the side of the road and turned the bike over.  A spectator offered to help, but I said I had it.  Usually, it is easy to just slip a chain back on. That day the bike did not cooperate. Every time I got the chain back on it would come off. It took almost 10 minutes to get it back on or it seemed like it. 

I peddled as hard as I could to make up the time. I ended up in 2nd place by 6 or 7 minutes. I just had the bike in the shop for a tune-up the week before and was assured all was working well. I suspect the chain needs to be replaced.  The rest of the bike went well. It is a beautiful course.  There was no run. A race without a run feels so easy.

It was a good day. I had fun despite the bike mishap and checked one more box for the multi-sport athlete requirements.  The short distance and no run meant there was not much recovery. I can get right back to training for the next box I need to check.

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Chris Wodke

Founder & Manager Team CMT

www.run4cmt.com

 

Chris is a triathlete Nordic skier and long-distance runner. She is a three-time participant in the Boston Marathon.  In 2012 she finished 2nd at Boston in the Mobility Impaired Division. She was on the course in 2013 when the bombs exploded.

 

She has appeared three times at the Paratriathlon National Triathlon Sprint Championship. She was the 2012 and 2014 National Champion Paratriathlon Open Division Champion.

In 2014 she was the PC Open Champion at the Duathlon National Championship and at the Aqua bike National Championship in 2016. She represented Team USA at the Aquathon ITU World Championship in Chicago in 2015i, Cozumel in 2016, and Denmark in 2018. In 2018 finishing 5^th in the 60 to 64 age group.

 

 In 2014 she represented the U.S. as a paratriathlete at the Pan-American Triathlon Championship in Dallas, Texas.  She has won state championships in cycling and triathlon as a senior Olympian. In 2017 she placed 2^nd in her age group at the Winter Triathlon National Championship, earning a spot on Team USA for the World Championship.

 

In 2020 she was named a National Ski Patrol Subaru Ambassador and a USA Triathlon Foundation Ambassador.

 

She travels around the country raising awareness of CMT.

 

She is the author of the book, “Running for My Life” which details her experience as a CMT-affected athlete, and the book “Soup Sundays, A Journey Toward Healthy Eating”.

http://www.henschelhausbooks.com/catalog/memoir-biography/215-running-for-my-life-winning-for-cmt-9781595982827.html

 

You may visit her author page at:
http://www.amazon.com/Christine-Wodke/e/B00IJ02HX6

 

Team CMT is a group of athletes and supporters working to raise awareness and find a cure for CMT currently has 247 athletes in 42 states. We also have members in Australia, Canada, England, Finland, Vietnam, Iran, Scotland, France, Turkey, Poland, Norway, Mexico, Wales, Ireland, and Sweden!. If you wish to join us visit our website; www.run4cmt.com or www.hnf-cure.org

 

CMT or Charcot-Marie-Tooth is the most commonly inherited peripheral neuropathy. It affects over 155,000 Americans (as many as MS).  It is a disease of the nerves that control the muscles. It is slowly progressive, causing loss of normal function and or sensation in the lower legs/feet and arms/hands.

 

Symptoms include; muscle wasting in the lower legs and feet leading to foot drop, poor balance, and gait problems Atrophy in the hands causes difficulty with manual dexterity.

 

Structural foot deformities such as high arches and hammer toes are common.

 

Poor tolerance for cool or cold temperatures and many people have chronically cold hands and feet.

 

Additional symptoms may include fatigue, sleep apnea, breathing difficulties, and hearing loss.

 

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