Thursday, May 15, 2008

GCT - The Bike



I started off the bike with a stomach full of sea water from the swim. I drank some plain water in transition, rationalizing that I could dilute the sea water into Gatorade. I had one water bottle on my bike with one empty cage - I planned to pick up a Gatorade at the first aid station at mile 10.

Within the first 10 miles, I saw 3 or 4 people walking back to transition with their bikes on their backs - obviously their race was over for whatever reason. At the first aid station, I grabbed a bottle of orange Endurance, opened the top, and took a few sips. I went to put it into the cage in front of my seat and the cage broke - off went my bottle. Luckily it didn't get tangled in my bike and flip me over (or anyone else). That left me with one bottle of water in one cage, but there were aid stations every 10 miles.

The course was an out and back for the most part. The ride out was with the wind, the ride back in was against the wind. That's exactly opposite of what I like. The roads for the most part were smooth and flat. There was one hill - a bridge we had to cross on the way out and the way back in.

The ride back in was tough. Mentally, things got a lot easier around mile 45, especially once we got back to the beach area.

Final bike time 3:13 - I was hoping for under 3 hours.

But guess what - no crashes, no flats. And, boy, it always feels so good to get off the bike, no matter what your time is.

7 comments:

Ryan said...

Well done on the bike!

What a day, just remember that the Ironman is just like that. . . . .



only a "little bit" longer!

It was great to meet you,

Happy training

Ryan

Tracy said...

SWEET you had a great ride. When your bike is finished you'll totally go sub 3 brother ;) Congrats to you and Lisa!

Anonymous said...

cha- lovin the legs sans hair

woohoooo! superHOT!!!

xo ca

Kevin said...

Great job on the ride. Sounds like the wind was kinda rough.

ShirleyPerly said...

Good job on the bike! I too would rather have a tailwind on the return leg but it just never seems to work out that way in races ...

Michelle said...

Great job!

triathlon wetsuit said...

Excellent work, keep it upgrade.