The bike-to-swim transition might have been the best/worst part of the whole day. My feet were numb. But, they also hurt to run. They felt heavy. There were five more concrete steps to climb, hard packed clay/sand, grass and mats heading toward the change tent. Before I grabbed my bag, I stopped to have the wetsuit peeler volunteers strip my wetsuit. They helped peel my sleeves off (one sleeve hit the volunteer in the face), I sat down on the ground and they yanked the suit off from my ankles. It took two seconds. Brilliant. I grabbed my T1 bag and headed into the changing tent. The tent was so warm - the temps and the volunteers! I put on two long sleeve shirts - but decided to skip the arm warmers. I dried off my grass-and-dirt encrusted feet and pulled on my socks while one of the volunteers opened my hot hands packages. I stuffed those into my socks. I stuffed nutrition into my kit and headed out to grab my bike and go.
T1: Swim-to-Bike 10’25”
For the first hour on the bike I was very cold. My hands - miraculously - weren’t. Everything else was. I felt like I had goosebumps on my arms and legs for the first loop. But, the sun came out and warmed the concrete and desert around me. I eventually warmed up enough to take off my top layer. Because the bike is three loops and so it’s easy to break up the work into segments. The town turns out technical section, out on the beeline, back on the beeline, and the technical turn section again.
Town Turns Out: Getting out of town and to the beeline was fairly straight-forward, despite all the turns and a bit of bumpy road. I had goosebumps from top to toe, but fortunately, my hands weren’t frozen. I could eat, grab bottles, shift and brake without a problem. My feet stayed cold until mile 62. My biggest worry here is that I lost Barbie! I had zip-tied her to the back bottle cage and as I made a turn, I encountered a couple of rough patches in the intersection. I heard a rattle and thought Barbie had jumped ship. I reached back and couldn’t feel her back there. At least RocketFire Jesus was still with me!
Beeline Out: This segment was uphill but had a tailwind. It was warm and I got to see all the bikes of the leaders headed back into town. My biggest issue was that my right glute and hip flexor were tight. I stood several times to try and work it out - but I couldn’t quite figure out the issue. The other issue: I tried to find my lip balm in my bra pocket and came up empty.
Beeline Back: This segment is a net downhill, but had a headwind. They had called for calm winds in Tempe, but, near Salt River and out in the hills, the wind picked up with every loop. My biggest issue on this segment was a RATTLE in the front of my bike. The roads were rough - so much so that in several sections they marked the pavement with signs, paint and tape. There was cold-patch all over the place. I tried what I could to quiet the RAT-A-TAT-TAT - holding the bottle cage, checking the front cap, checking the stem cap, digging into my bento box for whatever could be loose in there. Nothing stopped it the t-t-t-tt-t-t-t—-t-tttt-t-tt-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t. Talk about anxiety. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had missed a screw somewhere when putting my bike together.
Town Turns In: I liked making the turns back into town. I felt pretty good despite the cold and was a little ahead of schedule when I made the first U-TURN at the hot corner. I had been SO WORRIED about the train tracks at this turn-around. I lost sleep about it the night before. I was so relieved that they were covered with carpet! Brilliant! On my way out, I searched in my bra pocket for the lip balm. Still no luck.
Town Turns Out + Beeline Out: I felt great in this 18-mile section. The rattle had stopped, my glute and hip seemed to be better and I actually needed to pee. I think I stopped at the aid station near mile 45. I peeled off my top layer TOUR DE BLUEBERRY shirt and stepped into the porta-potty. I remembered to turn so that I emptied my pockets away from the pot. Because I was wearing a one-piece tri suit, if I had peeled my suit down over the pot, my nutrition and RocketFire Jesus would have taken a dive in the blue lagoon. As I pulled out the ziploc bag of nutrition - out jumped Rocket Fire Jesus. He landed between the door and the floor. I scooped him up and put him in the boob pocket with the lip balm. It’s very close to my heart where the real Jesus resides.
When I exited the porto, the woman holding my bike helped me play bartender (mix a new bottle of SKRATCH) and said: What’s this? She pointed to Barbie! She was still there!
That’s my Barbie pez, I explained. I take a different PEZ dispenser on each Ironman. This is number 17!
WHAT?!!!! She exclaimed! Then to another volunteer: Roger!! This woman has done 17 of these! You look like Barbie, she called after me as I rode off into the desert breeze.
Beeline Back: Ahhhh…..down hill. Grrrrrrrr……..wind. And that dang rattle again. I felt okay, but I had a little reflux and I started to worry about my nutrition and hydration. I decided to stop to get my personal needs bag - in hopes that I’d find an extra lip balm in there. . Instead I found: CHIPS! I forgot that I’d put Lay’s Baked Potato chips in the bag (along with a chocolate stroop waffle, a spare tube and spare air canisters. Oh my goodness! I was so happy! I stuffed the bag of chips and the stroop waffle in my tri kit top and headed out.
Town Turns In: My favorite part of this section was passing a group of girls near an intersection. They were volunteers directing riders to slow down for the upcoming turn. They yelled: OH MY GOSH I LOVE YOUR HOT PINK!
Thank you! I yelled back. I’m in my Barbie era. They squealed and yelled GOOOOOOO!!!! When I came back by they all yelled GO BARBIE!!!
Town Turns Out/Beeline Out: I am about ready to be off the bike. The turns out of town were not significant, but I told myself to use the momentum of the wind to gain a little speed before the turn-around. I was feeling pretty good and trying to step up my mental game and this dude passed me. He was really moving so I wasn’t surprised at the pass. I was surprised when he stood up about 100 yards ahead of me. He sat back down. I slowed so I wouldn’t catch him in the draft zone. And then he stood up again and I noticed water dripping from his bike.
You’re PEEING? I yelled at him. You pulled in front of me and THEN peed?
Sorry! he shouted. He sped up again and took off up the hill.
Beeline Back: I made the turn-around and decided to stop one more time. I filled my torpedo with ice and cold water and filled my last bottle of Skratch with ice. It made all the difference in the world. I was able to finish that bottle and eat the chocolate stroop waffle. Plus, I was able to take in a little salt and chase it with that icy cold water. I hit the 100 mile mark and cheered as I always do. Out loud and with gusto!
Town Turns In: Now I was REALLY ready to be off the bike. I braced myself for the last turn into town on the bumpiest road and the headiest head wind. Right before the turn another dude passes me, stands up and PEES!!! What is the deal guys?
I made it into town and crossed the carpeted train tracks one more time before bumping up onto the side walk and soft-pedaling into the park for transition 2. I was happy to hear Neal’s voice and even happier to get off the bike.
BIKE TIME: 7:08:58
