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| The headwind was now a tailwind and it was party time! Motored down the hill and the tri-babes treated me to some spectacular views. ;-) I made a decision to regroup and not bother pushing the speed on the way down. My heart rate dropped below 100 and the pain of the climb was left behind. I started to pass people. Many guys were still hammering the short climbs in the rollers and I could only imagine how that was impacting their marathons. I saw littering on the course but I kept my comments to myself. I didn't want to spend the energy on talking to someone. I needed it all for myself. For me, the ride really started on the return through the lava fields. The wind was moving around quite a bit, with tail, cross and head winds. As we approached town, I did some calculations that showed me that 5:45 bike split was possible. However, there weren't enough signs to get an accurate estimate. As I neared town, I realised that 5:45 was not going to happen so I revised my goal to "start the run by 7:10". About six miles outside of town, a guy who must have been 60 year old (or more) blew by me (at least 5 kph faster). He had road rash all over his body and must have been blown off his bike. Pre-race I had said that the only way that I wasn't finishing was if I was in the hospital, that road rash looked real ugly and I was glad that I wasn't faced with that particular "go, no go" decision. Not sure if I would have passed the test. Rolling through town was fun and the Elites were already out on the run course, the top pros were running along the Queen K while I was riding in. Although the ride along Alii Drive is nice, I think that this part of the course is really dangerous. Half of the road is open to traffic. Runners heading North and cyclists heading South share the other half. The cyclists (at least this one) are pretty zoned from the ride and there are people wandering all over the place. I expect that there will be a serious accident here sooner or later. Lots of little kids were wandering around the road and you could easily kill a four year old with a bike strike at 35 kph. I was riding with my hands on my brakes but I was still worried that my reactions would be too slow to avoid an accident. About halfway along Alii Drive, I saw Chuckie V (winner of IMC99) with what looked like a beer in his hand. He must have been having a tough day because he was well back from the sharp end of the field. Just before the last climb on Alii Drive, I passed Nicole. I told her to hang tough but it was clear that she was having trouble. Her colour looked grey and she said that she hadn't been able to eat at all. At the top of the climb, I said hi to Dad and Ian and let them know that she would be along shortly. I was hoping that they would be able to cheer her up. I zipped into transition, slipped my feet out of my shoes and stepped off my bike for the first time in a little under six hours. Just like in Canada, serious pain ripped up from my feet. Maybe it is something to do with the lack of support in my cycling shoes but my feet really hurt coming off the bike. I could barely walk and I hobbled into the changing tent making jokes with the volunteers. Things in the tent were a bit disorganised but I did a quick change and managed to get a little sunscreen before hobbling out to the aid station before the run start. I must have looked pretty sad because even the aid station volunteers were laughing with (at?) me. Still, it was smiles all around. Next Page |  Still loving it. This is after the descent from Hawi. I am on the bullhorns due to a short climb before you turn right, back onto the Queen K. |