I just finished a 89.733km ride that lasted about 3hh:7mm:58ss !
For this weekend it was a great idea to head across to the west coast of New Zealand to fill the bike leg of a team relay for a half IronMan race in the Hawks Bay. We have friends that live in the area and also had some friends who where racing, so we though it would be nice and it is also the first time I have been to the area, so it was great to see more of the country.
Although we were racing the team relay each member of the team swim, bike and run was taking on their leg during different times of the day. The unfortunate thing is that the swim leg was also cancelled which could have had us in a better position at the end of the day. The swim was replaced with a 3km run that was held later in the morning. I was first off then for our team at 6.15am.
The race had us rolling through the streets of Napier through a mostly industrial area and then you take a left and into the surrounding hills of the area. Nothing too big but enough to get the heart started and continued to roll in an out an back course through the country side full of wineries, orchards and farms.
So the start was a staged start on a cool morning that had us waiting in the start line for an extra 20 minutes, which left me a little cold. When the race started the first 5km was fast with a lot of people taking on the race before settling down to a pretty slow pace. That was fun so I was able to take on some of the riders up the front and made a good attempt especially on the hill climbs. Unfortunately, my descents have a little to be desired and a lack of weight on my part also has me struggling to keep up with the rest of the front runners.
The morning was windy but it picked up more as the morning went on. By the turn around at the 45km mark of the ride, made for a tough slow back into Napier to the end of my ride. Even though it was a struggle, I feel like I am still at a competitive pace and hopefully can still make some good improvements until IronMan in March.
I feel like I am getting stronger every time I get our and ride but...I feel like there is no difference between my racing and my training. I think the next two months need to have me focusing more on my ride and trying to get some extra power out of my legs. I took a simple run off the bike afterwards which seems to be working well for me. Swim is strong, run is strong, ride needs improvement but good to having a good idea of where I am as I start my training for IronMan New Zealand.
If anyone has any ideas on how I can get faster on the bike without having to resort to EPO or other illegal methods. I will be incorporating some more high intensity rides as I make it closer to my big race.
