I was so excited to get to the bike! As I left the transition area, I could hear Pat shouting encouragement to me, so I knew he was there and watching. The bike course started with a quick "steep" hill up to the main loop. I had ridden it before, so I knew it was no big deal, had the bike in a good gear, and popped right up. Couple quick turns, and I was into loop one (of a total four).
The first loop on the bike was neat, because it felt like it was just me and the FAST riders. Since I was truly a "completer," I had no ego to speak of, and really could enjoy watching these awesome athletes zoom by. How fun was it to hear the "wub-wub-wub" of a disc wheel coming up behind me? (I kept mistaking them for very funny-sounding cars.) I felt great - loved the course as much as I had the previous week. Coming up the one decent rise, I remember thinking that it might be too much on loop four, but that I would cross that bridge when I came to it.
As I started loop two, I had my first gel. Went down well, stored the empty in my shorts pocket, but that led to my first annoying disappointment. I went to reach for my back water bottle, and it was suspiciously sticky. I usually "start" my gel packets when I tape them on my frame, and I over-ripped this time - instead of just barely ripping, apparently I hit the business portion of the package, and my water bottle (as well as my top tube) was liberally daubed with sticky, sweet Strawberry-Banana Powergel. Annoying! This decreased my Gatorade consumption on the bike, but was little more than a minor PITA. Lesson learned: do not tamper with the gels pre-race. At. All.
Around the mid-point of loop two, I started noticing some fun stuff. Like the guy on the sidelines playing the Rocky theme on his trumpet. The dropped water bottles on the course (I later learned that BOTH came from my teammates). Pat, heard but not seen, cheering encouragement. A mysterious voice that knew my name elsewhere on the course, that I later learned was my friend Kate. I was still feeling strong and really, really enjoying the ride.
Loop three, I started passing people in earnest. One of the tricky things about the 4-loop course is that it was hard to tell if passing people actually moved you up in the field... were they on the same loop as you, or maybe just starting their first loop? Again, not competing, so I didn't really care. Always felt a little worse passing people who were struggling - I tried to toss out a friendly encouragement as I rode by.
I was happy to find that it wasn't hard to stay out of drafting range. I was a little concerned, but for me it wasn't a problem at all. I will say, though, that there was AMPLE drafting, intentional or not, going on. Ah, well, not my problem. I kept it legal, though.
I had gel #2 as I came into loop 4 - last loop. I was feeling GREAT about my ride at this point! I was seeing other TNTers on the course, so I knew that at least most of them had made it through the swim. I came in to the turnoff strong, signalled to the police officer to stop traffic, and heard the TNT supporters screaming their fool heads off as I came around the corner. I was really paying attention, because I didn't want to misjudge the turn with all those eyes on me, and I heard someone say, "Ooh, she looks really intense." I'm INTENSE! Grrr!
Back down the hill, past the helpful neighborhood children imploring me to "SLOW DOWN!" around the turn and to the dismount line. I made it off my bike AND down that $)((!#*% grass slope without falling. I was getting ready for my run when Team Captain Nancy rolled in. "Wasn't that FUN?" she asked? She was absolutely beaming. I knew just how she felt. We both had great rides. I changed out my shoes, jammed on a running cap, and headed off for the last leg.
My bike time was 1:24 and change. Certainly not breaking any records, but I had estimated at closer to 1:45. I was ready for 2 hours. My average speed was 17mph... again, not fast by competitive standards, but a good 2mph faster than ANY of my training rides. Woohoo!
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