Ironman Arizona 2011 Bike

Confidence is high, gear is on and the only negatives I can think of at this point of the race is that I lost a bottle full of powerbar gels and forgot to put on my second layer of sun screen. The first third of a mile is a no pass zone through a corridor of screaming onlookers. After it opens up you feel like a rock star ready to face hours of open road. The first 8 miles leading up to the B line highway is slightly up hill, but mostly flat.

This was a great time to begin just staying up on my handle bars for 10 minutes holding a 90 rpm cadence and warm up. I wanted 15 minutes, but I felt so good and had prepared in the aero position with such a high percentage of my training that it seemed alright. Having recently been fit for a new bike I had set up the Velo Vie frame I was riding in a much more comfortable and less stretched out position then normal. This would prove to be a huge asset in allowing me to stay in the aero position for almost 6 hours straight.

Not much to say at first, it is more about holding a pace that on the first lap is easy, second lap a normal exertion, and third lap only an above average. The entire first lap was almost no wind. This made for the easiest overall effort you could ask for. Half way through the first uphill portion I felt like my right ankle was kind of naked. A closer look revealed that there was no timing chip attached. I had lost the entire chip holder. There was nothing that could be done at that time, so I continued intent on finding an answer over the next 9 hours. As I was passed slowly by a group of riders drafting off each other I asked them what they thought I should do and was told to tell the timing chip people at the timing mats. This though obvious, was a brilliant idea.

so glad someone finds my bike for me

It almost paid off at first to be distracted in deep thought over the ramifications of this because it kept me from thinking of the grind of pedaling up hill. Every 15 minutes my watch went off telling me to eat, or drink and it just became a flow. I ate half a marathon bar on the first 15 with water, a gel on the 45 with water and at the top and 30 drank ironman perform. I only ate the marathon bars for the first 3 hours and then went to strictly gels. I also ate a salt tablet on the first 15 minute mark of each hour with water.

As I came to the steepest portion of the course on the hill just prior to Shea avenue I had to leave the aero position briefly to keep the exertion level casual. After conquering the hill for the first of three attempts I came to the timing chip and had to stop. I told the guy what happened. He said he would mark my time manually. I needed a longer term answer though so I had to find out what my best course of action to get a new chip was. This lead to what color their shirt would be, where I should stop and so forth. After five minutes of talking, losing precious momentum I continued on with a plan to stop at the turnaround that begins the second loop. He had told me I might have to go into the transition area, this burst my bubble of ever hoping for a PR on the day, but in aviation we say versatility is key. You never know what the world will throw at you and I would just take it as it happened.

this is the glory of the B line highway

The down hill was awesome. Still no wind and equipped with Zipp wheels, the bike flew. At the aid stations I would drop my Ironman perform, grab a water bottle, fill up my front aero bottle and pick up a new ironman perform. I would finally chuck the empty water bottle and continue on with just the two bottles. I grabbed a gel on every third aid station to make up for my lost gel bottle. The only aid station I skipped was the last one on the third loop.

I stopped at the end of the first loop by the guy manning the timing chip mat. I asked him if he knew I was coming because the guy at the top of the hill told me he would call down. He didn't know who I was, or what I was talking about. I told him my dilemma and he wrote down my number telling me there would be a timing chip waiting for me in my shoe for the run transition. The whole conversation including getting him to manually put my time down took roughly 3 to 4 minutes. At this point my lack of awareness when the chip fell off had cost me about 8 minutes. Now that this entire timing chip issue was clear in my head I was ready to start things over no stress. I yelled at my family as I rode by that I had lost my timing chip, but amongst all the screaming I don't think they heard me.

On the second lap there was now a strong tailwind going up the hill. I had done the first lap in 1:55 even with the 8 minutes lost. I weighed 185 lbs on race day (as far as I could tell) this meant my biggest weakness of hills turned into one of the easier parts of the race. I was moving so much faster then the normal hills I ride that I had to verify by checking my heart rate versus my cadence. At 145 bpm and a cadence of 90 the race was coming to me, and though it was going well I wasn't pushing too hard. This carried me back to the timing mat at the top of the hill where I once again got to yell at the same guy to please put my time in manually. My weight normally hurts me on the uphill, but on the way downhill I enjoyed watching all the skin and bones guys get pushed around by the wind while I let gravity just do it's part.

This is when the race became fun. I was ten minutes into the downhill on pace for another good lap when I for the first time in my race career got tapped on the butt by the Firefighter and told hello. We took some time for small talk in the middle of our side of the road and settled in together for about 5 minutes. This is when he went on a vintage Firefighter zone. This is when like the incredible hulk he rages and I did everything to stay with him tell I decided this was my race. I was going to do good or bad following my plan and sticking to what I wanted. So he road away in his marathon bar top and the view I'm used to during all my training road farther down B line.

This is what all the preparation is for. I settled into my zone and 8 miles later pulled right up behind him, he asked if I was showing off for my family. I laughed at him and yes might have pushed a little more to stay with him through the turnaround at the bottom. I knew he would beat me this race because of the run, but I didn't want to let him have the bike. After the turnaround to begin lap 3 he ditched me again. This was twice, so when I caught him again I just stayed behind him not telling him. I didn't want to play this cat and mouse again. We spent the majority of the last lap together taking turns on who was in front. I for the first time we have ever ridden together took the lead from him only giving it back when I chose. This was pretty strategic as we passed group after group. We only stayed together though because it was working. I would not recommend it for those not racing at a similar pace.

In the almost two hours I was with him I asked him if he would consider peeing on himself during the bike because we both were on pace to set a PR. Since we both make it public knowledge that peeing in our wetsuit isn't a big deal I you'd think this had come up before, but neither of us have ever been fast enough to even consider it. I normally have a tiny bladder and make the two of us stop, but this race I didn't use it once. Needless to say, the Firefighter laughed at me letting me know that he hadn't stopped to pee either, but I hadn't caught him so many times just because I was riding fast.

Each lap was an even 1:55 for me and would have been closer to a 5:33 if not for my timing chip issues. Either way a posted 5:48 was a PR for me by 42 minutes. We stayed together pushing past many competitors that were on their second lap riding hard all the way to the transition area. I gave him a pound told him to have a great race and that I would see him at the end. This was probably the most special part of a race for me I've had because for how many hours we spend training together to make the Ironman a shared event even for one lap was awesome. This was much less about competing, and more about doing what we had practiced for months on Carefree Highway together.

There is another twist to the race though. My beautiful wife could not find my updates on line and chose to do something about it. She thought I had no idea, but she moved mountains to make sure that they would fix the situation. It took her many conversations and phone calls coordinating other family to help make sure my race went well. On the third lap they told me that there would be a timing chip in my shoe for the run. I already had been told this by the guy at the timing mat and thought nothing of it. There is no way to know what would have happened without their hard work and determination, but it was a selfless thing only meant to make my race day better. I am eternally grateful for the time taken just to make sure I was ok.

The recap of the bike is that practice helped me hold the aero position for the entire time except for planned portions during the steepest part by Shea. This was a great help on a windy day. Riding with the Firefighter was probably the highlight of my race, and made it go by very fast. Having the information from my Garmin 310XT for cadence and heart rate during the bike was invaluable in staying within heart rate zones.  Having an aero helmet was great keeping my warm during the cooler parts and as the day heated up being well vented . I will definitely look into buying one. I raced my race, stuck to the plan and even though I was scared I couldn't even do a 6:30 I cut 43 minutes off my previous best.