Ironman Series: Part 3 of 4; THE BIKE!

Bike
Time: 05:45:14 112 miles 19.47 mile/hr
Age Group: 12/74
Overall: 805/2516
Performance: Good
First loop avg- 19.74 (37 miles) Second loop avg- 18.86 (37 miles) Third loop avg- 19.81 (38 miles) Comments:
Wow, so this the Ironman bike! As I headed out it was great to be on nice smooth road and I was going 20-21mph and it felt easy, I was little concerned cause I didn't want to go out to fast. Then...remember, there is always a "then" for each discipline...I drink out of my aero-bottle and the water tastes HORRIBLE. I had purchased and put in a new sponge in my Podium Quest, I made sure not to get the detergent one, and I have re-checked it, it was not a detergent one according to the package--but it was according to that bottle. That water was NOT drinkable. Crap. So, at the first aide station I grab a bottle and drink from it and then keep it precariously (since it's not made to fit in a bike cage) in my empty back left bike cage. Unfortunately I now have an aero bottle with water in it that I can't drink, and I can't take the time to dump out. Oh well. Then I hit the Beeline and WIND. What the heck? Stupid lying weather people...there wasn't supposed to be wind in this direction, it was supposed to be the other way. But, they were about 10-15mph winds from the north. So, I decide right there on loop one that I will NOT kill my legs fighting up the incline that is the Beeline--long and gradual with a couple little steeper parts--so I shift into my small chainring and just keep a solid and high cadence. Now, I hardly EVER go into the small chain ring unless it's just a hill I know I have to go into it. But I kept it there and agreed with myself right then and there that if my bike split wasn't my ideal goal of 5:45, well, that's fine, the important thing is to still have legs when I get off the bike. I finally reach with the first turn around, and my quads are feeling the work I had to do to get through the wind. Then I turned around and it was a HEAVEN! The tailwind was fantastic and I was going downhill and I think I averaged 24-28mph nearly all the way to the turn around at Mills Ave and did my first lap at about 1:52--that was my ideal goal, sweet! I hear my Mom and Ben cheering for me and my training partner's (Tanya) friends and family cheering me on as well as some fun "Go Army!" Off I go onto loop 2. I notice, however, that there is more wind on this stretch heading out towards the Beeline. And it is here where K1 and K2 (names held to protect the guilty) the two women drafters come into play. K1 was first--and she came up and camped out right in front of me, grrr...I hate this, if you're going to pass me and go faster, do it, but don't pass me and then slow down. So, I would drop back doing the right thing, then finally get tired of it and pass her again. Then she'd do the camp out thing. Thankfully she stopped at a porta potty and I was hopeful that was the end of that. I was hitting my nutrition right on. I had waited until 10 minutes into the bike to take anything, but that's when I had started my Infinit. My nutrition was a 10/30/50 minutes each hour, with the top of the hour one being a GU, and twice I ate a little bit of a PayDay bar. Anyhow, I'm on the second loop and then whoosh--here comes a drafting pack to include K1 and K2, they come up right on me and past me some, but sort of do the camp out thing, well, I'm NOT GOING TO GET IN THE DRAFT PACK! So, I drop back some, and they take off, then some of them are dropped and I pass them, to include K1 and and K2. This happened on and off the entire 2nd and 3rd loops. I probably had packs come up on me like that 4-5 times. I despise cheaters. yes, there was wind, but SUCK IT UP! I trained in the wind, I'm racing my own race in the wind. Anyhow, I did the right thing. That 2nd loop I went faster up the Beeline than previously, but had to go to small chain ring earlier, and I couldn't bomb as fast down the Beeline to the Mills turn-around because the wind had shifted and was more of a crosswind. I was tempted to check my average speed as my display just shows time, distance, current speed, HR, and cadence. Oh, HRM, so I had mine on, but the dumb thing picked up too many HRMs and I was frozen at 107 the entire bike...so didn't get any data there, oh well. I don't really use HR on the bike as much as I pay attention to RPE, cadence and speed. I was keeping AWESOME cadence on the inclines and would shift if I dropped below 90RPMs. Anyhow, I make it back down to Mills and turn around on my last loop!! Yay! I'm excited to be on this loop cause next time I come down I am DONE. This time heading up the Beeline I was able to get about half-way before any small chain ring was needed. I never needed Special Needs, and I didn't need off my bike. It was at 81 or 82 miles in that Sally finally passed me! I also had a couple of other BT’ers roll up on me at one point too--it was nice to have some friendly folks out there saying hello!! I told Sally I was wondering when she was going to pass me cause she is fast!! I had hoped to keep her in my eyesight, and I did, until one of those packs got between us. For that last loop I did a lot of stretching and actually felt like I took this lap the easiest, yet I did it the fastest! Craziness!! I was thrilled to come rolling into the turn around and get to go into the bike chute instead of turning around. I didn't hear my name announced, but I did hear "representing the US Army as an Officer..." and that was cool. I slowed down in the bike chute, got out of my shoes, and I noticed lots of people lining the bike chute, but they were quiet. Now, having cheered at IMCdA and noticing the same phenomenon at the bike chute, and as a good cheerer, I was yelling and get people going I shouted "come on folks, let's get some noise, this is Ironman!!" The crowd went loud and it was AWESOME!! YEAH!! I may not have slowed down as quickly as volunteers wanted, but it was great, I got dismounted and my legs felt super--which I totally didn't expect. I never did have to stop and pee or pee on the bike, which concerned me a little bit, but I knew I took in enough water. I just think I sweat it all out. The 2nd loop was the most difficult and I kept waiting for the turn-around, but besides that, what a super day of riding!
What would you do differently?:
During the whole bike I had thoughts of my friends and family watching and tracking online, both my BT friends and others on Facebook, and I knew my friends Blythe and Joe were having the conversation of "I hope she didn't blow her legs out, I hope she didn't blow her legs out." Not because they don’t have faith in me, but because it’s a legitimate thought! Blythe and Joe and Liz have been super inspirations and support for me, so it actually motivated me to think about what they were thinking while tracking. I admit, I thought the same thing about blowing out my legs throughout the ride, but also felt like I had done a good job of paying attention to RPE and cadence. I had also made the conscience decision to use my small chain ring for a HUGE part of the ride in comparision to my usual methods of riding. I stayed on nutrition, though I burped up some bile a couple of times, and that was gross---may have been an effect of the water I took in on the swim (not too much, but some) and the nasty soapy water I drank initially. But, I knew I was good on getting in what I needed to on the bike--though I was tired of it by the time I was done. Going into that small chain ring was probably the SMARTEST decision I would make all day long. I have done 10 or 11 one hundred mile plus rides, but have always had some stopping moments in there. I never ever stopped on the bike. I never had to pee, which concerned me some, but then again, it didn't, I was sucking down water plenty, I just think I sweat it out. I never have to pee on the bike in a race, and I guess the same thing happened during Ironman. I was willing to try on the bike, but never had to do so. My "best case" ride scenario was a 5:45--I did 5:45:14...I'll take it!! Would I like to get faster here, could I be better on hills (not that IMAZ is really hilly, but it’s not totally flat), yes, but I'm TOTALLY thrilled with being able to do this during IM ESPECIALLY considering I DID NOT blow my legs out--but that's for the run segment of this Race Report!