Chicago Triathlon - done!

Today was just a beautiful day for the Chicago Triathlon. Water was a bit cold (60 degrees) but the rest of the event was cool and sunny. I was told beforehand that the first 1/4 mile of the swim would be crazy with everyone kicking you and bumping...boy we're they right! Thankfully after that it opened up nicely and the swim went very well. On the bike, the only problem was the 15 mph winds in your face for half of the 40k. Of course, the other half was nice with 15mph winds at your back! The run was nice and flat, albeit windy for the last half of the 10k. The most interesting thing was that I had to drop off my bike at transition around 5:30am, but then my wave for the swim wasn't until 9:20am. Needless to say, I went back to my car and slept until 7:30am. My times weren't anything spectacular, but I'm satisfied for my first Olympic distance triathlon. I'd put new tires and new aero bars on my bike, and I think they really helped. I was very happy with my bike time, although I wish I trained more in the position over the aero bars...my back and shoulder's got pretty stiff. You can see my times here.