Prepping for the Diamond in the Rough Triathlon

I rode my mountain bike for about a half hour through the park this morning to loosen the legs up from yesterday’s run. While I was in the park I spoke to some folks that were preparing to ride the bike route of the Diamond in the Rough Triathlon. The DITR is next Saturday and entails a mile swim in the the Susquehanna River, a 27-mile bike ride over hilly terrain, and a 5-mile run on an out-and-back, fairly flat course. Never having participated in a triathlon, I can’t provide a credible overall assessment of the course (hey, I’m certain that a flat five mile run is a lot more difficult after a long swim and hilly bike ride). But I do know that the bike route is challenging. I have pedaled my road bike over most of the course at one time or another and there are a lot of rolling hills over the first half of the route. For participants not familiar with the course, the river can be a false sense of security. After traversing the hills over the first half, the route then follows the river for approximately six flat and fast miles. But expend too much energy along the river, and the last and largest hill of the course will demand a toll. The hill is more than a mile long, much of which exceeds a 7% grade. Ascend the hill, though, and it is all downhill to the exchange zone.