OK, post swim as I said in my previous post it is a fairly steep little up hill jaunt back to transition. But jaunt I did, I actually ran much to my surprise and I wasn’t dizzy as I have been in the past upon exiting a swim from the open water. My wetsuit was removed by volunteers which was pretty slick and I moved on in to my bike.
Steve had advised me on methodically setting up my transition before hand for quick changing. I had a sock in each shoe and some arm warmers as well as sunglasses in my helmet…. so organized. My skin was cold and wet so it was not easy to tug my arm warmers on but once I did I must say I loved them. Really LOVED them. I never realized something so small could make such a big difference in warmth.
Two stations over there were two women competing together who were in a full body sunscreen lather fest. I think I probably wasted 30 seconds just staring at the wonder of it all. It was early, the race was a sprint, and one could have easily screened before the race started if necessary. Yet these two gals must have dumped an entire bottle of sunscreen on to one another’s legs and arms and were rubbing it in to one another. Strange Indeed! OK, focus, back to the race.
Once my shoes were on I grabbed my bike and actually ran with it to the exit to get started on the bike course. I was actually acting like this was a race. There was a bit of hustle in me which is not necessarily my natural state. I had ridden the bike course just the week before so knew exactly what to expect and I think that helped me going in to this. I probably pushed it a little harder than I might have if I didn’t know what was in store for me.
pedal, pedal, pedal, huff and puff. This is how it went for the first mile or two as I found my cadence and settled in to my rhythm. I have spent most of this summer on the bike playing with shifting… something I have never been good at before so never fully utilized to my advantage.
The bike portion brought me much joy as I felt like I was actually in the race again. I am a fairly slow swimmer so by the time I got on the course it was nice to burst forward on the bike.
I held my own for the most part with the women cyclists only being passed by one or two- keep in mind that is because all of the front runners were long out of the water. About one mile in to the bike the leading men started coming with their disk wheels and tri bikes buzzing by.
Lots of rolling hills and a sunny morning made for a beautiful ride tht morning, even if a bit chilly.
Alas, the ride was over. I pulled around the corner, saw my Love Steve and our daughter cheering me on giving me the energy I needed to have a strong run. I dismounted at the white line and trotted my bike back in to transition, if only I could find my spot…….