IMAZ - The Bike

1st Loop
I was so happy to be on my bike. I must have had the biggest smile on my face, just elated to pedaling away with 1/3rd of my Ironman done. About 300 yards into the bike, riding out of race central I got a surprise, there to my right side was my brother-in-law Jeff and my niece Georgia. Then I saw my wife and daughters, cheering madly for me, followed by the rest of my support crew: my parents, sister, other niece and nephew, and Aunt’s and Uncle’s. I got teary eyed, I was so overcome by emotion, finally seeing my family and hearing them screaming for me. I ended up riding that emotion for the first ten miles; it just flew by so quickly.

I did encounter one problem early on in the bike. While I was reaching for a sleeve of Shot Bloks I accidentally dropped a full sleeve from my rear pocket. Initially I thought it was the apple pie I had packed but found out later on that it was in fact necessary fuel. DAMN!!!

The first loop on the bike was pretty uneventful; I was going at a pretty good pace, and I felt really good. There was a cross wind for most of the ride out, coming from the southeast, which translated to a very mild push up the Beeline Highway. Before I knew anything I was up to Gilbert Rd. and I was passing people at a regular rate, while being passed by only a few. My father had mentioned that he was going to try and make it up there to see me on my way north, but no family members were there. It didn’t faze me, I just kept going. It was awesome to see the pros go flying by on the other side of the road; I did my best to scream for Jordan Rapp, Chris Lieto, and Chrissie Wellington, although my shouts weren’t all that boisterous.

The “hill” to the turnaround was inconsequential and I quickly looked to fly back down to Tempe. Well, unfortunately that wasn’t going to be since the wind which helped me up the Beeline was now going to restrict my progress back to town. I was able to maintain a solid 20 – 21 MPH on the downhill, into the wind, quite less than the much talked about 27 – 30MPH that was advertised. No worries, I just did my best to keep my heart rate low and my cadence up.

As I approached Gilbert Rd. again I looked to my left and saw a group of people crossing the street….it was my family! By some stroke of luck, they had just arrived at the intersection as I was passing by. I think I saw my Aunt Dot (Super Aunt Dot to my daughters) first and then my wife and daughters. I was so great to see them and it put a perma-grin on my face for the next 30 minutes.

Soon after I passed my family, I reached another iamtri.com friend, Alexis. I chatted with her for a minute or two as we rode and she told me that the wind would probably change on later on. She was really confused about the weather so far that day; it was definitely not typical of Arizona. It was time for me to move on, so I told her good luck and I rode on. The rest of that loop wasn’t too bad, although the wind was increasing a bit and was in my face for most of the last 8 – 10 miles. I concentrated on taking on fluids (Gatorade) and fuel (Clif Shot Bloks). I was constantly drinking and every 30 minutes I was eating three Bloks.

2nd Loop
The start of the second loop was insane, there were people everywhere screaming and cheering everyone on. It was a solid two or three miles of spirit-raising, ego-boosting, adrenaline-pumping, pure energy. I felt like a superstar, AWESOME!!!

Back to normal then a few miles later, still passing lots of people, not much in the way of crowds, but I was feeling great. At one turn I hear someone call out my name, it was my Uncle Michael who had driven in from California. I gave him a shout and a wave…man was I lucky. A few miles up the road I saw my family again, I remember my wife screaming, “You look great!” Again, I was so lucky.

It was around midway through my second lap that I started to feel the need to pee again. I heard about people peeing on their bikes and I thought, “Why not?” Well, easier said than done. I just couldn’t do it; I mean I physically couldn’t do it. I tried and tried but it just wasn’t happening…DANG! After the turn around at the top of the Beeline I was going to stop but didn’t. That meant I would have to wait for the halfway point of the race. It was at this point that the Gods decided to play a cruel joke on all of us racing that day. It started to rain…it rained during Ironman Arizona in the middle of the Sonora Desert. Are you kidding me? It lasted for about 15 minutes and it wasn’t a downpour, but it did add to the craziness of the race.

Finally, I reached Gilbert Rd and a bathroom. I had to wait for someone ahead of me (add 2 minutes which felt like 20), then I went (add 2 minutes which felt like 20), and finally got out of there. Oops, time to stop by “Special Needs” and refill all of my bottles. Another break that felt like forever but probably only took two or three minutes. Finally I was on my way and about halfway done.

I checked my watch and noticed that it said I was in “T2”…that wasn’t right. I must have hit the lap button my mistake while at Special Needs. Ugh, I had to reset the “Multisport” mode, which wasn’t necessarily a big problem because I was able to sync up my heart rate monitor. The one bad thing was that I had to figure out about how much farther I had left on the bike since my watch now read mile zero. I didn’t let it affect me, instead I just kept riding and if anything it gave me something to think about for the remaining 40 miles or so.

I think I saw my family again around this point which was a total shock. I thought they were going to go to some funplex place or something like that. It will probably sound redundant but after seeing them, well it was like getting a shot of adrenaline. I also think it started to rain again after seeing them which was not really comical anymore; it was getting annoying and making the roads a bit slick. The winds were still steady and strong making the end of loop number two tough. The crowds were undeterred though and kept screaming for all of us athletes.

3rd Loop
Alright 38 miles to go and then it would be time for the run. The wind was picking up and I was really flying heading out of Tempe. Things were going well, I was hydrated and my energy was high as I continued to pass people all the way up the Beeline Highway. At the far turnaround I could feel that wind had changed and this time it was coming right at us and it was howling. The last 15 miles or so were going to be tough so I went to an easier gear and raised my cadence. I just plugged along, continuing to drink Gatorade and down Clif Shot Bloks (which at this point were making my teeth hurt….all of the sugar I suppose). About ten miles from the end of the bike I saw my family for the final time and I recall looking right at my wife who was holding my youngest and saying, “What is up with the wind?” Just then I made a right turn, leaving everyone behind, and before me looked like a hurricane. The wind immediately picked up, tumble weeds were blowing across the road and visibility dropped considerably. Then it hit me, the rain, the sand….the wind; I went from ~18 MPH down to 10 MPH in an instant. I had to fight through this for the next three or four miles, just trying to get finished with this damn bike.

Just as I was about to go over Tempe Town Lake and ride the final two miles or so the wind shifted again, this time blowing from the west. This was not a good thing, I would have to ride the last few miles directly into the wind….what a way to wrap up a 112 mile bike ride. The crowds were still pumping and I was able to finish with a smile on my face, mainly because I was happy to get off of that damn bike.

I am certain that if the weather hadn’t been so crazy I could have ridden close to a 5:30:00 leg. I felt like I was just working so hard at the end of the ride and pretty much every time I was close to the lake. I hoped that it wouldn’t affect me on the run. Final Bike time: 5:55:15, 18.92MPH