Goal Time: 6:45 to 7:00 hours
Race Time: 6:19 (including 4 minute penalty)
Before heading out of transition, I turned on my GPS tracker by My Athlete Live so that Tammy and the kids could know when I'm getting close to the resort. The bike course is a two loop course and I would be riding by the resort twice per loop.
I headed out of transition and down Montee Ryan for a 10 km ride to Hwy 117. I rode the course (two loops) in June with a NRG training camp so I had a very good idea what to expect. The weather was cool (maybe 10 degrees celcius) but I decided not to ride with my over-sized running vest. I did have my sock/arm warmers half way rolled up (I put them on backwards and couldn't get them rolled up all the way). The ride down Montee Ryan is mostly down hill and fast to Hwy 117 but at the corner, for some odd reason, the course went through a gas station parking lot and then onto the highway on-ramp. Much to my disappointment, the drive-thru McDonalds was closed. I really could have used a Mcmuffin at that time. In fact, I know someone who stuck one in their bento box and ate it on the bike during IMSG.
It was a beautiful day with the sun out and little wind. After a long gentle climb I headed down Hwy 117 (northbound) to this awesome hill. This picture doesn't do it justice.
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| Looking southbound on Hwy 117 |
The momentuem carries you for a couple of kilometers. Its awesome until you have to ride back up it. I was in aero position all the way down. I noticed some people were riding the brakes. I figured, if I'm going to crash, its not going to make a difference whether I'm going 40 or 70 km/hr. My race is over.
Closer to the turn around, I rode with Ross from APTC. I've never met him but I know a couple of people from that club. We were riding side by side for several kilometers chit chatting until we rode by a guy standing on the side of the road. He flashed a red card at us. Crap, was that an official? Did we just get a penalty? We continued riding together but didn't talk as much. I wasn't sure if I got a penalty or Ross did or the both of us. Better to play it safe than sorry and stop at the penalty tent otherwise its a DQ.
One part of the route I didn't ride during the training camp was the short 10 km out and back through the town of St Jovite. The people were awesome and lined the street yelling and cheering. There were Ironman signs everywhere. Heading back up Montee Ryan and close to the resort, I saw people from the Markham Tri Club who yelled encouragement. As I passed by the resort, the fan support was incredible. People were line two or three deep yelling and cheering. The climb to Lac Superior was tough but ok and coming down was awesome. I'm so glad I came up in June for the NRG training camp.
Heading down the hill, I turned right and and volunteers yelled out for the special needs bag. I pulled in and someone handed my bag. What service as they waited while I swapped my water bottles out. The new ones I picked up were insulated and I froze water in half the bottle the night before and then added my nutrition and topped up with water in the morning. That way, the water was nice and cold after sitting in the hot sun for several hours. Brilliant strategy! I rode around the parking lot, crossed the timing mat for the 2nd loop but couldn't find the penalty tent. I stopped and asked a volunteer and he said it was right beside special needs. I was so focused on picking up by bag, I blew right by it. Then I saw Ross standing underneath the tent. We had a good laugh.
After I served my penalty, I took off down Montee Ryan. I grabbed one of my full loaded bottles to take a swig and....I dropped it. CRAP!!! There was no way I was stopping. I couldn't figure out why I dropped it until I realized I was wearing these cheap gardening gloves that I put on in transition. I wasn't sure if I was going to get my special needs bag back, so rather than wear expensive riding gloves and lose them, I went to the dollar store and bought cheap gloves. If I lost them, they only cost a dollar. I took off the gloves and stuffed them in the back of my tri top. Scobie told me that something would always go wrong in a race so figure out a back up plan. Dropping a full bottle of nurition was trouble but I needed a replacement. I had two other bottles full so I would have to pick up a bottle of Perform....gross but at least I trained with it. The rest of the ride to the turn around point was uneventful other than the large pack of obviously drafting riders heading southbound. Once I turned around, I immediately knew why they were drafting. The winds had picked up and we were now riding into some stiff headwinds. Oddly enough, officials were riding by the packs and appeared not to do anything about it.
Riding back to the resort and heading up to Lac Superior, I saw Tammy and the kids on the other side of the fence. They yelled and waved. After I reached the top, I decided to stop and visit them for a couple of seconds. As I came flying down the hill approaching the resort, I looked to make sure no one was behind me and hit the brakes hard. I gave Tammy a quick kiss and high fived the kids and took off to transition
Transition Two
Goal Time: None
Race Time: 4:50
Well better than T1. I did a quick change into my running shorts and swapped my stuff out of my tri top for the stuff I needed to for the run. I planned to run with my water bottle even though there were aid stations every mile. I like to drink water when I need it, not every mile. I brought little baggies of eLoad powder that I would dump into my water bottle at the aid stations. I felt ok and knew the first 21 km would be ok but the second loop...........
Did you get the penalty for riding side by side?
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the extra speedy bike split! Despite the hills, the course seems pretty fast!
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