The photo gallery from Miles for Mom is up.  There are hundreds more, but these are our favorites.  Thanks to photographer David duPui for generously donating his time and sending along all these great shots.

The photos from Miles for Mom will be posted shortly.  In the meantime, here’s a favorite.  It’s been a while since we had a contest, and this photo is just begging for a wise-ass caption.  Please make your entry by week’s end.   A free Headblade to the winner.

We had a pair of racers at Bassman and a pair at St. Anthony’s this weekend.  Johanna Bjorken was 4th overall and won her age group again in scenic NJ, while Leanne Elisha was 3rd in her AG and 10th of 58 women overall.  Down in Florida, Helene Roth and Jon Miles duked it out with the masses and each other.  Helene 21st out of 154 in her AG, and more importantly to her, edged out Jon Miles, who was 131st out of 332 in his AG. 

Nice work gang.

Good transitions are free speed, yet so many triathletes who’ll happily train ’til the puke, and spend obscene money on aero gadgets to save a few seconds ignore them.  The seconds lost or gained in transition count just the same as those on the swim, ride or run.  Look no further than this weekend’s Brooklyn Bi for evidence that hardware can be won or lost in transition.

We solicited some transition advice from Nate Horne, who typically blazes though his.  Here are a few of his tips, with my input in italics:

• Memorize where your bike is. There’s nothing worse than doing a "where’s Waldo" looking for your bike.
• Do a mental run through of your transitions before leaving for the start.
• Rack your helmet and glasses where they’re easily reachable, and rehearse putting them on.  Be sure to leave them someplace stable, as anyone who beats you to T1 is liable to knock them over if you place them precariously on your saddle
• Practice getting out of your wetsuit.  Grease yourself like a pig at the state fair.
• Rack your bike in a relatively light gear.
• Run on the non-drive side of your bike, with your right hand on the saddle and left hand on bars if needed.
• Practice running mounts and dismounts.  Personally, I’m as fast doing a stable dismount and then running, but if you have the flexibility and coordination, it’s worth a try.
• Try leaving your bike shoes in the pedals.  Rubber band them to the frame to keep them from dragging.
• Decide when to start getting out of your shoes in T2 in advance.
• Use speed laces for your running shoes.
• FOCUS.  Amen.

Three City Coach athletes ventured up to Bear Mountain for the North Face Endurance race Saturday.  Emily Kindlon finished 2nd in the Women’s 10k.  (Click here for her race report.)  Upon arriving at the Brooklyn Bi the next day, Killer gave her unsolicited race report, "it hurts so much".  Speaking of pain, Amanda Keylor managed to badly sprain her ankle halfway through the course, and hobbled to the finish.  Rickey Gawley hung tough in the half marathon in his City Coach debut.

Official results have been posted.  Overall, it was a strong showing for our season debut.  Highlights included Nate Horne in 3rd overall, and Edie Perkins in her City Coach debut, finishing 2nd overall behind AG world champion Cassie McWilliams.  Also in the top 10 for the women were Johanna Bjorken (1st in 35-39 AG), Leanne Elisha (2nd in 25-29), Helene Roth (2nd 35-39), Emily Kindlon (1st, 25-29) and Jeannine Bardo (2nd 45-49).   Also collecting hardware were Lauri Young (3rd 45-49), Sarah Wenk (2nd 50-54) and Jon Miles (3rd 35-39).  Plus we had debuts by Agnes Zbylut, Bobby Dweck and Michael Borden, as well as solid performances by Tom Buffolano and our own (hobbled) Shane Neil.

Here’s a spreadsheet with our athletes. Download brooklyn_bi_2008.xls  FWIW, the timing is clearly a little screwy.  Our folks are fast, but not as fast as those run split times indicate.  I suspect that the mats were placed so that the run sections were shortened and the transition times began early.  Also, all the R1 times seem to be about 40 seconds faster than my notes, and most of the finish times don’t add up to the sum of the splits posted.  Aside from magically transporting Leanne in front of Killer, Helene and Jeannine – which she graciously pointed out is incorrect – the rest of the finishing order seems correct.

Photos soon.

Here are some numbers from Saturday’s ride.

23,490 Total calories burned.  Thanks again to Jack Rabbit for their generous donation of a pair of running shoes to the donor with the closest guess.  (The winner was Terence Gerchberg, who needs another pair of sneakers like Rosie O’Donnell needs another bite of a donut.)

18.2 Total weight (in pounds) lost during ride.  This despite going through 30+ bottles of Accelerade and water.

2  Pee breaks.  One each for Todd Colby and Jon Miles.  Ironman apparently does not equal iron bladder.

6,931  Dollars donated as of now.  Feel free to increase that sum by donating online.

OK, it’s been a while since we had a quiz – so here goes.  At the left is the result of one of our athletes hitting the pavement.  The first reader to name the rider wins a pack of Second Skin.  Post your guesses in the comments area.

Yesterday’s event was a huge success.  Photos (of the ride and the shaving) and details will follow shortly.  In the meantime here’s a quick recap.

* The head shaving took place before the ride.  John Tolud was the winner on eBay, and generously added $100 on top of his winning bid

* There were a couple of minor glitches including a missing pair of cycling shoes, a sick rider and an AWOL rider.  Thankfully, there were spare riders and spare shoes, and eight riders (and sixteen cycling shoes) finished the century

* A good time was had by all at the after party, which was generously hosted by The Sheep Station.

* At present we have collected over $5,000 and four ponytails.  You can still donate at the Miles for Mom website.

The final roster of riders was: City Coach Manager Shane Neil, IM veteran/Jack Rabbit Manager Todd Colby, City Coach Athletes Nicole Sin Quee (who rode strong despite her illness), future Ironman Emily "Killer" Kindlon  and past/future Ironman Jon Miles, Jerry Speier, BVF’s Jason Gay – himself a cancer survivor, and yours truly.  The first riders "arrived" in 5:01, and the last was in by 5:37. 

Thank you to everyone who helped by donating, encouraging, riding and cheering, as well as to all our sponsors and to Suzanne Hogan of Milk & Honey Events for volunteering her time to help us put this all together.

Tomorrow’s the day – 8 x 100 miles to nowhere.  We’re still working on a few last minute details like a sick rider and other minor glitches, but overall we’re looking good.  Please come by at 10 to watch the head shaving, anytime from 11-4 to watch us ride, or join us at the after party from 6-8 at Sheep Station on 4th and Douglass.  We’ll have a raffle with great prizes including great gear, massages, SCUBA lessons and lots more.  Please join us.