Race Day Part 3 - Bike
Jul 19, 04:05 PM
Entering the transition area I was a little surprised at how few bikes were left on the racks. I found my bike and started preparing for the ride. I tried to dry off but didn’t get too dry before putting on my shirt so it got all twisted up and all before I could get it all the way on. After I got that sorted out (and it ripping my number a bit) I wiped my feet and got my shoes on. I grabbed my helmet, gloves, sunglasses and bike and headed out to the road.
As soon as I got to the road, there was a long line of people riding really fast past. When there was a small opening, I got in and started pedaling. The course is a 5 mile loop up Olentangy River Rd to 161 then down 315 to the Henderson Rd exit and Olentangy River Rd back up to the park. The Olympic distance did 5 laps and sprint did 3. Turning onto 315 I got down on my aerobars and shifted up into my highest gear. I topped out around 30 mph going down the hill each lap but wasn’t always able to keep the momentum going. I averaged around 20 mph going down 315 the first time and a little slower each time until finally being around 16-17 mph the 5th time. It was a lot of fun riding along the highway on my bike, but it was weird being out there with the cars going by so fast.
There were a lot of serious riders who kept passing me on their very expensive and fancy bikes. Maybe some day I’ll have a neato bike like that, but at least for now, I need to get better about riding the one I have! I don’t think I’ll need the aero helmets, though.
Coming back up Olentangy River Rd was a bit harder. 315 was a pretty straight, flat ride but Olentangy River Rd had a bunch of hills and stuff to worry about. As soon as I got off the highway there was a long gentle uphill to deal with. Crossing over Bethel Rd there were another 2-3 good sized hills (at least they felt big when I was tired) to deal with before it flattened out a bit. Right before the park was a nice big downhill followed by a bigger uphill that really drained me at the end.
Laps 1-3 I felt pretty good. Lap 4 I started feeling like my energy was going. At one point during the end of lap 4 I actually said to myself that I should have done a Sprint distance. Of course I hadn’t done a sprint, so I kept going the final lap. It was pretty painful. Halfway down the ride a guy passed me who had been behind me for a while. As he went by he said that we were probably the last 2 people out on the bike course. Looking back I couldn’t see any other riders so that was pretty disheartening.
I finally finished the bike and turned into the park. Every lap the number of spectators was getting smaller and smaller. By the last lap, it was pretty much just Kristy and my parents and a couple other people. I got off my bike and headed into the transition area where a lot of people were already done. Most of them were sprint distance racers so I expected that, but some were Olympic distance.
I got my bike racked, helmet and gloves off and shoes swapped out for my running sneakers then headed out for the run.
Average speed for the bike: 17.71mph
Max speed: 29mph
Goal 2: bike completed in 1 hour 30 min…actual time: 1hr 25min
Older Articles: Race Day Part 2 - the swim Newer Articles: Race Day Part 4 - The Run