I rode well at the Pacific Populaire today. I rode hard, loved riding in the pack, and made new friends. The day was rich with experiences and I came back home with all kinds of stories to share.
My tank was getting low with 20km to go, and by the time we hit Riley Park it was on empty. Coming up 26th to the stadium, I felt the fatigue wash over me with a happy sense of accomplishment. Chatting with family and friends was fun, everything I ate tasted so good, and stretching out flat for an afternoon nap was what it’s all about. Fatigue can feel so good.
bike
Time = 3:28
Ride Time 3:30:18, 103.4km
153 Avg HR, 169 Max
Avg Speed 29.5km/h (Kathy’s 30.7km/hr)
Max 54.7km/h, Avg Cadence 95, Max 127swim
15min easy at Watermania
practiced flip turns and did some 100, 200s
Let’s talk a little more about my nutrition from today, because I need to learn from this day. According to the estimate on my bike computer, I burned 2123Kcal on today’s ride.
During the ride I ate – 3 gels, 1 bar, 1/2 banana, 2 gatorade [(3 x 110) + 220 + 50 + 600 = 1200Kcal]. Immediately after the ride – I ate 2 lemon loaf, 1 gel, 1 gatorade, 3 waters [read hungry, tired, and really really thirsty]. Then I went home and ate a big healthy lunch.
I had a seriously heavy load of fatigue after this ride. Obviously, I did not eat and drink enough. I had enough fuel to be strong for the ride but I just cut it to the wire. If you had asked me to do a marathon right out of Riley Park, I would have yelled, “Hell no!”
I will have to focus on nutrition in a whole different way for IronMan. For example, in today’s ride I ignored my 15 min drinking alarm in favoring of sprinting with the pace line. I also had troubles getting my gels out of my bike jacket because my focus was shifted to staying on that white jersey’s wheel. One thing that did work well was to have the bar cut up and in an open package in my bento box {Thanks for the tip, Mary}.
Now don’t get me wrong, this was an awesome ride and an outstanding performance. But imagine the possibilities, if at the end of the day my tank’s not completely on empty.
Wow! Smokin’ time there lady!
Nice work and congrats on a great effort. Thanks for sticking around to cheer on the slowpoke (me, relatively speaking of course).
3:28 !!! Well done Joanne.
Didn’t see you at the start, but not surprising with 400 + riders. Great route and good day. Would have been perfect if the wind had reversed as we got onto river road. I rode with Paul to Spanish banks and then felt strong and pushed ahead. Got into control at 10:55, then waited for him . Rode together to start of River Road and then pushed on again. Felt good into the wind – unusal for me. Took one wrong turn (Vulcan way behind home depot – wasted 5/6 min. there. Started to bonk on SW Marine by Pacific Spirit. Think I didn’t eat enough. My computer gave a riding time of 3:55 and for me a riding average > 25kph is good.
I have a new system to rate 100k times:
BTW those 2:57 finishers ?? WOW !
I expect you’ll join them next year. Also, imagine how easy it would be for you to ride with our fleche team. We could send you ahead to the controls to order our meals so they’d be ready when we get in.
Cheers, and good luck with your training.
Tom – off to Hell Week on Friday
Hi Tom,
Yes, I was looking for you but I have to admit with the crowds I could
really only see the 20 or so riders around me. I had a good ride and
stayed with a crisp tempo the whole way. I had a lot of fun.
I got into the control at 10:40, grabbed half a banana left pretty
quickly. Coming into the control, I remember thinking, “Boy, that was
pretty fast.” and, “Sure, what the heck, I’ll just keep going”. I
hooked onto a great pace line from Westminster, River Road to Arthur
Laing. At one point we were clipping along at 40km/hr. They were
sprinting every corner and it was pretty fun. As we passed another
group on River Road, we watched a minor crash where a fatigued rider
took another guy out (everybody was OK). At one point, I remember
thinking to myself, “Stay Focused” as everyone in the pace line
shifted positions. I should have recognized that as a start of a
bonk.
I started wanting to be home around Home Depot – 20km to go on the
bike computer. I did not eat enough on the ride. I got myself back
by hooking onto a couple of friendly wheels and focusing on the route.
From the Arthur Liang, all I was thinking was “16th”, then
“Highbury”, then “come on, Yukon!”. My friend Kathy and I were
switching pulling every minute for the last bit and singing
ridiculous, “I feel great” and “you look awesome” lines every time we
switched. I was so happy to see Riley Park.
I had such a good time at the event that I’m psyched about doing other
events – like the Seattle to Portland ride. The flesche still
intimidates me, but I’m sure I’ll be in a whole different mind set by
the end of the summer.
I’ll be thinking of you and your buddies for the Hell week. I’m going
to get some hilly Okanagon rides in this weekend but nothing like you
guys. Remember to think, “Sure, what the heck, I’ll just keep going.”
All the best,
Joanne.