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The sound of the crash shook me up a bit but I had my own problems with my legs still not acting properly. Made the Vaseux Lake turn and got on my aerobars for some cycling down to Oliver and Osoyoos. I was drinking water and Orange Gatorade. About halfway between Oliver and Osoyoos, I started to feel sick and my stomach wasn't clearing. I had to sit up and slow down in an effort to hydrate. Remembering the words of Tri-baby to pee by Richter, or else. I was really concerned about my lack of hydration. I had a mild headache coming on as well. I got to the Husky station and dumped all my bottles except for one water (I figured why haul the weight up the pass). Error, I was dry three minutes after passing the aid station. Fortunately, the Tri-Gods were kind to us and the weather was cool heading up Richter. I must have had 150+ people pass me on the pass. I was in a bad way, thirsty, dehydrated, cramping and very scared. Only the kind weather saved me from a meltdown. I got to the top and found a huge party going on. There were announcers, Mexican music and all the drinks you could handle. By this time, I had decided that it was the Orange Gatorade that was giving me grief and started a desperate call for Lemon/Lime at every aid station. I was well behind in my nutrition strategy (having gone to straight water when the stomach cramps started) and wanted to load up on energy at the same time as getting fluids. I hammered down the Richter-bahn and really enjoyed the "free speed" of a downhill hammerfest. Not one person passed me on this descent (or any descent for that matter), if only my climbing had been this strong. Still, I was making progress and starting to feel better. I had made the right call to go easy on Richter. Through the rollers on the backside, I started to move up the field as people grew tired and I recovered. I even had a forty-minute period when I was able to get some decent speed happening. Unfortunately, my stomach started acting up again and I had to pop my head up. I think that I might have had my bars set too low and this was making it difficult for my stomach to empty. I will raise the bars a bit and see if this helps. At the old turnaround point I did some mental arithmetic and realised that I was on track for a 5:45 bike split. That cheered me up tremendously because I was still in with a shout for my sub-11 main goal. I was cheered up some more when I passed the Aloha Aid Station that was complete with Live Band, Hula Babes and Lemon/Lime Gatorade! The volunteers go all out for this race and it makes a huge difference. By the time I got the out-and-back section, I was back in trouble. Still no need to pee and my legs were sending out more urgent cramping warnings. I backed off again and focused on my hydration. By now, I was convinced that Orange Gatorade had been designed by Satan and that there was a vast conspiracy to keep me from the Lemon/Lime. I stopped at the aid station after the special needs pick-up and waited while a volunteer (God Bless Him) got me four bottles of Lemon/Lime. One went down right away, one went in my Jetstream and other two were for the road. I was fully loaded and ready to go! Next Page |  Heading out for the run. |