Cozumel Ironman Race Report

I spent the last few days in Cozumel, Mexico watching my sister-in-law race in her first iron Man! It was quite the event to watch, complete with victory, defeat, heartbreak and tequila. Here is a rundown of the course:

The Island of Cozumel, Q.Roo

So in an event like this they swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles and then run 26.2 ( a marathon). The swim course was pretty rough from what I understand, 2700 people fighting a current and some pretty rough open ocean. The bike was three laps of a really pretty and straight and well maintained road. The run took three laps through town where the majority of the spectators were. Here are a few pics from the race day:

The train of bikes 

Christina on the start of the run

Christina toward the end of the run

She did awesome, stayed positive the whole time and was really upbeat about it afterward. She finished in 13:20:00 which is a fantastic time! Not everyone had such luck with training and equipment however. This unlucky fellow had ripped off his rear derailleur in some crash, and was walking his bike dejectedly through the crowd like a lost puppy.

"Has anyone seen my hotel?"

At the finish they had some booths set up with some merch and a Specialized tent with some bikes to check out. This was a chance to look at some cool new technology. Here's a look at the Ultegra DI2 shifters, which I'd never seen. Fun fact: not compatible with Dura ace DI2 because this Ultegra system is 11 speed. (...can't the software be upgraded?)

Teh future.

Here's the Transition, their tri bike. This bike is notable for a couple things: The massive downtube houses a bladder that can hold something like 1500 ml of water. This is nice because it keeps the handle bars clean and moves the weight down near the ground so the an already twitchy bike becomes more stable. 

Transition in front

Here's a look at the same bike set up with DI2 shifters. The nice thing here is that you can shift from either the aero bars or the base bars. 

Shifters shown in black. 

I was struck that these bikes were very unridable. Most had the brakes unhooked or not tensioned and the tires were all flat. Not that they were doing test rides, but come on, show us the complete package. 

   Overall a sweet chance to check out a fantastic race, watch some family and friends compete and check out some cool bikes! Next stop Kona, Christina?