Ironman Louisville Bike

Starting out on the bike, I knew I had this. I felt good, I felt confident. This is where I've made the most progress and riding is now my strongest part of the race. I also went out with zero exceptions on time. I gave rough estimates to family so they would have an idea of when to see me but that was as far so my thoughts of time went. I saw family heading out of transition and knew I'd see them soon in La Grange.

The first 11 miles of the course were pretty flat. I knew I'd have to hold myself back as it would be easy to go out too hard and pay for it later. I had my power range and I did a fairly good job staying in it. I mostly spent those first flat miles settling in, drinking a lot, eating a bar, finding my groove and letting certain body parts go a little numb. It was around 50F when I started and I was under dressed given how I'd normally dress in that weather. The numbness didn't bother me though, I rarely thought about it. Then it was time for the first climb following by rolling hills. Everyone referred to the course as having "relentless rollers". After driving and riding part of the course on Friday, I knew that was an accurate statement. Having seen the course ahead of time made me feel more comfortable on the course. I knew what to expect.

At this point my plan was to start riding a little harder but still nothing crazy. I stayed in my zone during most of the ride. I didn't let other people effect me, even when it was frustrating. The whole ride I would get in a rhythm with one or two other guys where we would keep passing each other back and forth. They would pass me on the uphill when they hammered up and I stayed in control as to not burn up  my legs. I'd pass them on the downhill while they were coasting and I was still applying power to the pedals. I didn't let it bother me and I even joked as I'd pass them that we would keep doing this over and over again.

Unfortunately it only took a few miles in until the chaffing started (some people might want to skip this paragraph). An unhealed saddle sore started hurting at first and then it got worse and worse. I spent many, many, many miles thinking way too much about that particular pain. My legs felt fine. At the time my stomach felt fine. I kept telling myself that I just had to made it to special needs and I could apply more chamois cream. There was only one thing that provided some relief and this is going to sound gross and the opposite of what I at least expected. I am able to pee on the bike as long as I stop pedaling. Lots of downhill makes that easy. For some reason peeing myself made it feel better for at least a few miles. Therefore, I peed on the bike multiple times during the ride even when I didn't have a very full bladder. The only true relief I had though (other than being done with the ride) was finally reaching special needs. It was my savior in a plastic baggy. The male volunteer helping another female who was applied  cream as well told her that was the one thing he wouldn't help with. I joked "what that's not in your job responsibilities". Despite the negatives, I was still enjoying myself and having fun.

As planned, family was in La Grange and I was very excited to see them. I made sure to smile in hopes they would translate that I was doing great and riding happy. I knew I wouldn't see them again for many hours near transition so I soaked up that energy and the cheers from the crowd and on I went on my merry way.

Special needs was 60 miles into the ride. I finished three out of four of the bottles on my bike in a little over 2 hours. I was very thirsty at the beginning of the ride from the swim.  That meant I had one bottle to last over an hour unless I wanted to grab something from an aid station which I did not for whatever stupid reason. It surprisingly wasn't difficult to make that last bottle last though. At special needs I loaded my bike up with 5 more bottles and figured I would need most of that (which I did not). I was eating my normal bars on my normal schedule. However, sometime after special needs I noticed my stomach felt a little off. Nothing horrible, just not great. I started breaking out the Pepto tabs and threw a few back. As the miles went on I noticed it more and more. I made sure to sit up during any uphill as being in an aero position was making it worse. I wasn't throwing up or anything and I knew I still needed to eat and drink so I stuck with it. The low temperatures meant I luckily didn't need to drink a ton and after my super thirty first 2 hours, I was back to drinking about a bottle an hour.

During the second loop I could feel the people around me running low on energy. It was something I was expecting on the run but it was palpable how people were starting to feel run down and were slowing down. I tried to not let that negative energy roll onto me and instead use it as a reason to feel extra strong because my legs really did feel fine. But my brain and stomach were getting the better of me. On the 20 miles back to town I could feel myself slipping away. My stomach really was bothering me but I felt like I was using that as an excuse to go a little easier. My legs could have gone harder. I know they could have. Would that have made my stomach worse? I don't know, maybe. Maybe slowing down a bit was a good idea. I really don't know. Since it was mostly downhill or flat those miles, my average speed was increasing. I was still passing people and no one was passing me at this point. But for some reason I sat behind (legally, not drafting) this 34 year old guy in a black and white kit for waaaay too many miles. It kept me at the very bottom of my power range when I knew I should have been riding at the very top and even pushing beyond it. I had no desire to pass him though. I let him dictate the pace. The fatigue of riding over 100 miles had caught up with me and my negative brain had won at that point.

For some reason in the last 2-3 miles I decided to be that ass hole that waits until the last minute to pass to get in front. I'm not sure why. It suddenly hit me that this was ridiculous and I knew I could do better and at the very least I wanted to finish the ride strong.

112 mile ride - 6:21:53, AG rank 25/75

(Extra note - Sometime during this past week the results page removed my T1 time and added it to my bike time for a 6:31:56 now.)

Although it looks like I'm peeing on my bike like a dog, I assure that I was done before this point.

I saw family right before I had to dismount and they were not expecting me that soon so I caught them a bit by surprise. During this transition I had no desire to move quickly. Like the majority of people at this point, I was walking, not running, through transition. I happily handed my bike to a volunteer (I don't want to see that saddle for a while) and slowly made my way to the tent. Once again I didn't rush to make sure I didn't miss anything but I forgot to get sunscreen sprayed on the way out. After I left the tent I decided it was time to get into the running gear so I finally got to running to  complete what felt like a half mile of transition and out onto the running course... seriously where is the run start line!

T2 - 7:22

The ride was by far the best part of the course and the best part of my day. It was a very pretty ride with some nice shady sections from the trees starting to turn color. I enjoy hills, rollers, climbing, descending so the course worked well for me. The weather was PERFECT! I cannot stress enough how much that helped me that day. The ride was in the 50s and 60s, mostly sunny and not very windy. Despite the stomach issues, chaffing issues (to be expected) and marginal last 20 miles, I am very happy with this ride. I thought I had this ride in my pocket going into it and for the most part I was right. I moved up 13 placed in my AG. Once again I did better than I excepted I would. Then again, it's very easy to do better when you go in with no real expectations.... most definitely the best way to race! My main takeaway from the ride was that I can ride stronger, I know I can. I'm still trying to figure out what went wrong with my stomach and I spent a lot of the run trying to figure that out.