Bike

It took about 20-30 seconds just to get to my bike in the back of the transition area. I quickly got the suit down to my ankle and off (the BodyGlide really helped here). I had a gel bottle with one gel serving and water ready so I took that down with some water and put on my shoes. I was paranoid about getting sunburn so I sprayed some more on my exposed shoulders and lower back even though I had put Bullfrog on before. Sunglasses one, helmet on and buckled, unrack the bike and head towards the exit. Another 20-30 second jog in bike shoes (luckily it was on grass). The timing mat to start the bike was at the transition exit and I had planned on hitting the splits on my watch as I crossed every one. I must have been too excited to get out on the bike course at that point because I forgot. Oh well, I still had the cumulative time running so I could have some idea how I was doing. My goal for the bike was to average 20 MPH which would have been about 1:15:00 on the 40K bike course.

I crossed the mount line (yes, that's what it is called) just as we entered the roadway. I got over to the right side, clipped one foot in, pushed off to clip the other in and was off. The first 300 meters of the bike is over bricks and it really bumpy. I saw a couple folks ahead of me wobbling trying to clip in. I don't blame them, it was rough if you didn't get it the first time. After the first turn it was all on pavement, though. I immediately started passing people on the straights and then ran into a stretch of relatively open road. You aren't allowed to block the left lane, it's only for passing, so I kept checking behind me. You also aren't allowed to draft with 3 bike lengths so I didn't want to be in the right lane weaving in and out of a string of riders. I would hang out in the left to pass packs of riders and stay right as I could.

The bike course wound through St Petersburg with two major out and back sections and a twisting section running through a golf course. The first big out and back was very slightly uphill and I worked on keeping my cadence up and my speed around 18-19 MPH. At the turnaround we headed back downhill and I was able to push for a bit closer to 24-25 MPH except for one train track crossing. It was more of the same heading down to the golf course; I was hitting 25 on some of the straightaways with a tailwind. Overall I felt great. I had my watch set to beep every 15 minutes as a reminder to drink. I had mixed 3 gel servings into each of my two water bottles and wanted to consume at least 1 1/2 of them by the end of the bike. I probably overdid it on the nutrition as I would later find out. I saw Steph just before the golf course; Teen said she saw me coming back on one of the legs as I was heading out, but I didn't see her despite keeping my eyes open. The wind was swirling a bit on the golf course and there were speed humps everywhere. It took me 3 or 4 of them to realize that if I hugged the curb I could avoid them altogether. I was still passing groups of people. Just as we exited the golf course there was a water hand off. I grabbed one of the water bottle and drank about half of it before dropping it. One more out and back and then a turn north along the water. This is where it got a bit rough. We had a headwind the whole way home, the last 5 miles or so. My legs started burning and my speed dropped to around 17 MPH. I had to drop into some lower gears to avoid spiking my heart rate. I probably ended up pushing it a bit too hard; The bike was the best place for me to eat up chunks of time since I knew the run wasn't going to be my best leg.

I was glad to see the finish line in sight and dropped into an easier gear to get my cadence up and loosen my legs a bit. Back over the bricks where I almost bit it on a pothole I didn't see, clip out, coast to the dismount line, and off the bike. On the run back into transition I immediately knew that I was in a bit of trouble; the left thigh was aching and my back was really tight. In transition I racked my bike, got my bike shoes off, took a swig of water, stretched my legs for 20 seconds, socks and shoes on, hat on, more sunscreen sprayed on my shoulders, and back towards transition exit. I didn't know it at the time but my bike leg clocked in at 1:15:25, 19.8 MPH average. Right on pace. My transitions had been just average (6:01 combined, my "goal" was around 5:00), but this was my first tri so I wasn't too concerned about that. Better to take my time than make a dumb mistake. I was already tired and feeling the heat even before hitting the run course. The next hour was going to be tough.