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| Rich Sawiris, me and Haroon Said before Stage 2--I want my mommy |
The cool thing about a 171 mile bike ride is that after 80
or 90 miles, you still have 90 or 80 miles to go. Coach prepped me on strategy the night
before. I ate pretty well the night
before—gluten free domino’s cheese pizza and two heaping plates of steamed rice
and avocado (yes, I packed a rice cooker too, how else do you get 200lbs of
gear to add up to 200lbs?). I woke up,
and I definitely felt tired. I didn’t
get the most restful sleep, but I managed to get breakfast down, join up with
the crew and drove over to the Day 2 start at Skaha Lake right by the swim
start from the day before. After
arriving, I weighed in (gained most of the weight lost the day before) and got
ready to go. Everyone else looked like
they felt fine; I didn’t feel so great, but the second I put my leg over my
bike to mount, all of that went away.
All of a sudden, I felt pretty good and ready to race. Our crews left about 10 minutes before the
start. We then lined up in bike time
order from the day before and filed out at the start.
The day 2 bike course can be broken down into 4
sections: 1) the out and back to Osoyoos
(about 60 miles), 2) the WALL to highway 97 (about 15 miles), 3) Highway 97 to Princeton
(about 60 miles), and 4) the out and back from Princeton and back (about 38
miles). The out and back to Osoyoos is
relatively flat and fast. I was about 15
miles in, sitting in 5th position, when I got my first flat. Jan Svendsen’s crew was on me in a Thor like
flash and changed my rear wheel tire. I
was off. The chick group passed me
during the flat plus another 3 or 4 riders.
I started picking up the stragglers, and about 8 miles
later, I rear flatted again. I pulled
off getting ready to change my tire, and my crew appeared out of nowhere. Richie jumped out of the assault vehicle and swapped
my wheel Tour de France style and sent me off—I was probably stopped less than
2 minutes. I managed to get my garmin to
read my new powertap wheel (pretty easy).
Now I was pumped and ready to go.
One by one, I picked off those who had passed me, and pushed myself back
into 5th place prior to the turn to the Wall. My 56 mile split was a 2:49, and a few miles
later we started the climbs. The Wall is
about 1.5 miles (might be shorter) and about 950 of elevation gain. Awesome 13% and 14% sections on that
climb. Once you are over the Wall, you
arrive at a winery and Steve King announcing the riders as they crest the
climb. I was 5th over the
climb, but I had two strong riders from the chick group right behind me plus my
nemesis Chad (totally kidding, we rode a lot together on day 2 and ran a lot
together on day 3).
The next 15 miles are rolling and desert hot. I left that section in 7th, after
the two chicks went past me. They were
on a mission. Yvonne would ride to the
second or third fastest time of the day.
She looked good, as did
Amy. When I hit 97 and made the left for
the 65 mile trek to Princeton, my crew put bags of ice in the top of my jersey
and poured ice water on my head as I went by.
As I passed 112 miles in just a little over 6 hours, I felt I was on
track for a good ride, but I was hungry and totally sick of my infinit and
gels. I switched to coke and honey
stinger chews. The chews worked well and
got me to Princeton, but about 20 miles to go before Princeton, my left foot
started hurting badly. I rode about
10-15 miles and it just kept hurting more and more to the point that I couldn’t
get up out of the saddle to even stretch my hammies.
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| In that hot, hot section after the Wall |
As I rolled past my crew I yelled out that I wanted to
switch my left shoe. They looked at me
with a WTF expression, but Johnna yelled I got it—now she knew why I brought an
extra pair of shoes. They bunny hopped
me; I stopped and while Mary changed my left bike shoe, Johnna jammed a PBJ
into my mouth. I was off in 15 seconds
and my foot was reborn. My power turned
back on, and I was able to get back into the zone. During this 60-65 mile section you face a
constant headwind. Staying aero is key
during this section.
Then we got to Princeton.
In the distance to my left I could hear Steve King’s voice announcing
things about the race—I thought that’s cruel, I still have 38-40 miles to
go. The out of the out and back is
extremely deceptive. It’s definitely a
false flat with rolling hills that take you steadily upward. It is the cruelest section of the 171 mile
ride. Luckily, there wasn’t a headwind
on this section, and the little downhills were in no way rewarding as the next
hill upward was way longer. I would
learn this was even worse on day 3. I made it the turnaround and the crew started
yelling at me “don’t get chicked, you’ve got a rider 3 minutes behind
you!” Time to take advantage of the
rolling downhill. Tom Regal of Volt was
at the turnaround and he gave me words of encouragement as Johnna handed me two
Tylenols to fight the pain building in my foot again. The painkillers seemed to kick in right away,
and I started riding hard. About
halfway, it started raining but I just rode harder.
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| As an avid fly fisherman, I considered stopping to wet some line. |
I didn’t get chicked on the way back to Princeton, and I
rolled into the stage 2 finish with a 10th place for the day, but 4th
place overall after the day 2 cumulative time.
I couldn’t believe it. I finished
in 9:35 with my goal being a 9:15 to 9:30.
I probably blew a few too many matches on my mission to catch back on
after the two flats. I was happy, and I
felt I raced hard and felt it was my best bike ride ever. I finished, my crew gave me hugs, and Steve
Brown also came over and gave me a finish hug.
I got weighed and lost 8 lbs during that stage. I think I was 163—I had to eat big tonight to
catch up.
Johnna handed me a yummy vega protein shake (I would later
find out there was an avocado in it), and I soaked my sore foot in an ice bath,
and then got a shower and a massage.
After that we grabbed a burger and fries at the local pub, and once
again my crew drank beer in front of me.
Jan and his crew with Darwin were there, and I thanked them profusely
for that flat change. Darwin would save
me again the next day after the run.
Day 2
171.4 miles
6,900 ft of elevation gain
4,800kj
Day 2 weight loss 8 lbs
4th Place Overall (2nd AG)
I so wanted to shoot or kick my bike, but I didn’t; I was
relieved that all that was left was a run.
I ate more and drank more through the evening, called Coach Hillary for
the plan, and hit the pillow at 10pm for a 5:30 wake up.
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| Yay, Day 2 in the Books. Wearing my Paddy's shirt, my favorite pre/post race T. |
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