Ironman Coeur d’Alene Race Report – The Bike

After running out of the tent I headed out to the bikes, Cory (who swam faster than me) was waiting for me under the tree we had designated as our meet up place I ran up and gave him a big hug, I was so happy to see him after the though swim and know that I would have him “with” me the rest of the day. I ran down grabbed my bike and headed out onto the course.

 Riding through town was fun because there were a lot of people lining the streets cheering and encouraging everyone. As we headed out onto the first part of the “bow-tie” you hit some hills but there were lots of fun bands and it’s very scenic along the lake. 

 We quickly turned around headed back though town and out along the highway. This part of the course is still very pretty but there are less people and this part was really hilly. My back and stomach were cramping and I wished I had brought my Advil to help deal with the pain but I knew that I wouldn’t get any until mile 60 something when we got our special needs bags so I continued on.  To distract myself I tried to thank every volunteer or police officer I passed and it really did help to take the focus off just me. I was glad to have my rain jacket on as it was really cold and cloudy for the entire first loop.

Where's Cory???

I saw my family around mile thirty, I tried to put on a brave happy face, I didn’t want them to know I was hurting so early on in the race because I knew they would worry. They cheered like crazy as we zoomed past. Right after the turn around we both had to pee so we pulled over at the next aid station, it felt so good to get off the bike for a couple minutes and stretch I felt ten times better when I got back on. 

I cheered for other RMTC members when they passed going the other direction which was hands down the best part of an out and back course. 

I saw my family again and enjoyed the mostly downhill ride while we headed back into town. It was starting to warm up at this point and I was starting to feel a bit better. The miles were really starting to tic by and soon enough we were at our special needs bags. I grabbed my advil and stuffed my jacket in my bag, I knew there was a possibility I wouldn’t get it back but at that point I didn’t care. At about mile 60 the sun started shining and my back stopped hurting and my entire race turned around. I was able to pick up the pace and was passing a lot of people, my mood was great so I was chatting with all the other participants and volunteers as we made our way back through town and out one last time on the highway. I really didn’t expect to see my family again on the bike course because you have to wait so long and we zoom by in about 5 seconds but there they were to greet us after our last big climb. At this point I was having a great time and my smile was genuine.

2nd loop feeling a lot better

 When we turned around I was elated, it was mostly downhill and only about 25 miles left on the bike. I passed my family again cheered with them and headed into T2  where they caught up with us again, I don't know how they did it!
 
I was happy to be off my bike after 7:34:32 of riding. A volunteer was there to take my bike from me so I could just run into the tent without having to rack it. I was handed my T2 bag and was greeted by a volunteer. She grabbed my bag dumped it on the ground and started asking me what I wanted. I felt a little brain dead so I took a moment to breath and concentrate so I wouldn’t forget anything. The volunteer helped me get my compression socks on that I planned to run in, my running shoes, visor and this time I remembered to grab my medicine bag to take with me.  I had put a full change of clothes in my bag in case I would want to change but I didn’t feel the need so ran out where I saw Cory getting sunscreen applied, I joined him, had sun screen applied and we were off for the third and last part of our day.

Up Next, the run!

You can read about the swim here and the prep here