IMTX Bike: What it Takes

And its time for part two of Ironman Texas recap - the bike!  Thanks for your kind words on part 1 - you never know if this navel gazing induces huge eye rolls or legit interest, but for everyone that wants to follow the story, I'm grateful for it.  As a side note, I write these race reports for a few reasons - one, to relive the day, two - to help future Rae and anyone else help learn from my mistakes (there are plenty!) and three - to help anyone racing the particular race learn from the course and my recounts.  End aside - where were we?  Oh yes - about to mount the bike!

As I ran into the change tent, I was amazingly efficient for an Ironman - my swim was a few minutes slower than I wanted (but within the range of 1:10-1:15 so all good) and so I wanted to MOVE!  Ironman transitions are a bit slower than your typical tri - you grab a bag with all your bike stuff, head to a change tent, and move like a Nascar pit crew.  Sometimes you get a volunteer to help, sometimes you fly solo - and for this one, I flew solo.  No mind.  I put on my bike shoes, helmet ( yes, THE RIGHT WAY - check!) glasses, and stuffed my jersey with my gels, slim jims and paydays - and was off to grab my bike!  Again, the beauty of my AWA racking meant I had much less further to run with my bike, which was an amazing perk.  I grabbed Felix (that's my main man, my bike, and I love him, even though he was being difficult pre race) and we were off!  ...well....kinda.  As anyone knows, I am not the most graceful gazelle with my bike, and NO, I did not fall down.  Hit power up on my bike computer and lost control of the steering and almost knocked the bike over as I ran to the mount line (stay classy, Rae) - and of course, the amassing crowd was all there to witness my idiocy impressive bike save.  There was a gasp (I am not kidding lol) and I yelled out - I got it,  I'm good!! (which says a lot) and everyone laughed. I mounted my bike and was off for a cool 3 minute T1 - which was awesome!

The bike course was made up of 3 main parts - 20 miles around town to get to the Hardy Toll Rd - then two out and backs of Hardy (20ish miles each) and then the final 10 or so coming back.  The course was pretty flat (I got 2,200 ish ft gain total) but was wide open to the elements - both the sun and wind.  Race day temps hit the low 80s, which is not bad for Texas, but I knew it was gonna be a hot bike and would need to stay on my nutrition.  One of the big changes that Mean Dude implemented (we are gonna talk alot about him for the bike and run recap) was to beef up my bike nutrition - I was not eating or drinking nearly enough.  Sweat test prescribed 40 oz of liquid per hour, which sounds like A TON but in the heat, it was key.  I also ate 400ish calories an hour on the bike, which, compared to last Ironman, was twice the amount.  To get in the 2000ish cals I needed, I had Skratch Super fuel (1200 cals), 4 gels (400), 2 pay days and two slim jims - to break up the flavor and get a little salty (thats what she said).  I took in salt every half hour, and ate on the hour, while sipping skratch every ten minutes, and grabbing a new water bottle every 20 miles or so. Check.

The first 20 miles or so were pretty sweet, effort wise - I got my HR right in zone 1, and settled in as
best I could - there were a lot of turns in the beginning, but easy to navigate as long as you sat up and paid attention.  I saw my friend Linz about 6 miles into the bike and yelled out a big hello, and my other Rochester friend Kyle passed me about mile 17 and we did a verbal high five - he looked awesome!  At mile 20, I was averaging about 19.5, and my A goal for the bike was 5:45, so I was right on target.

Then I tunred onto Hardy Toll Rd. (BTW - Actual signage on the course to the left) and was hit in the face with wind!!  The Hardy Toll Rd ran North/South, and past race history proved again this year, it meant a headwind for miles 20-40. (and 60-80). The road also boasted no shade whatsoever and a few crazy overpasses that weren't hard climbs, but windy AF.  It also featured some cool cross road names like "Riley Fuzzel Rd" which was hilarious to me two hours into a race (ok fine, I would laugh anytime.) 

 I knew logically that miles 20-40 were gonna be tough.  My speed slowed dramatically - and the rational part of me knew that when I turned around, I should get some free speed.  But, as I will always say - Ironman is mental.  (And for the mentally insane).  Your mind will tell you "No" way before your body does.  And at mile 30 of the bike - I hit a low.  I was mad.  I was tired.  I didn't want to.  And 3 hours into an event that can take 12 plus hours to do - is NOT where you want this.  Then I remembered some of the strategies Mean Dude and I talked about - when I felt like this, it was either nutrition or pacing issue. I knew my effort was good, but the mph was messing with me, so I switched my bike computer to just read power.  I also knew I had a caffeinated gel in my bento, so I took that for an energy hit.  Worked like a charm.  The next ten miles were not the most fun, but I was back out of my own head and ready to rock! YES!

Which I did at the turnaround, going from about 16-17mph to a cool 22-23mph with little effort.  WHEEEE!!!  I was racing trains as they took off in the median (thankfully those little suckers never crossed over and made me stop) and was loving every second.  I accidentally swallowed my gum, and grabbed my spare piece out of my jersey, which would not come out of the foil.  Hell.  I tried to dislodge it with my teeth and ended up with some lovely mint aluminum foil gum.  (Foil DOES NOT taste good but hey, its Ironman!). 

 About mile 60, we turned back and were headed for more headwind.   This time I was ready - I knew to focus on power and get through the next hour or so.  The winds had picked up to about 20mph, but I distracted myself by playing leapfrog with a dude in front of me - I would pass him climbing and he would pass me on the flats.  My form fell apart a bit here - since I hadnt ridden outside a ton, aero was a little harder to hold here, and I also knew that I was getting hot.  The wind messed with my nutrition a bit, and when I looked down, I saw salt tracks on my arms. Shit.  Not good. I was almost four hours in and hadn't peed since the swim (sorry guys), which was not good, so I took in a few more salt tabs and grabbed a bottle at the next hand off (these were not super easy to navigate - it was really congested, but I knew I needed them, even if it slowed me down).  As I dumped my bottle into my aero mount, I hit a snare in the road where there was a perpendicular crack, and my wheel got caught.  FUDDDDGGGEEE.  Thankfully it squeaked out and I stayed upright, and other than a minor freak out about wheel damage, I was good to go (there were a ton of crashes due to these - I paid attention but had missed this one due to fiddling with nutrition.  lesson learned). 

The next hour or so was uneventful, save for me and leap frog dude, who had "On Pace" written on the butt of his kit, which made me giggle.  We would chat every time we passed each other, and I made a joke out of staring at his butt (he was in the 50-54 AG, I later found out, so score one for the dude getting teased by the younger woman, and check off my requisite dude in his 50s I hang with for a portion of a race.  Thanks #1779!).  Whatever the reason, it made those painful 20 miles go by much easier, and at mile 82, we flew back again toward transition!  Those 20 miles felt awesome, and I spun out, fueled, and tried to pee again with no luck (dammit).  At mile 102, we pulled a u-ey and headed back toward home, and for approximately 30 seconds of the 112 miles, rode through shade (it does exist in Texas!)  Looking down at my data, which I reverted back to time, it looked like I could pull a 5:50ish bike split, which was great with me!

The last ten miles were uneventful - more turns, a few grumpy gung ho men passing on the turns (thanks guys) and a few leapfrogs, but mostly just sucking in the rest of my skratch and spinning out for the marathon ahead!  I finished the 112.1 miles in 5:52, for a 19.1 average, (a nine minute Ironman PR)  and was off to T2 to RUN!!