Augusta 70.3 Part 3 The Bike

Augusta 70.3 Part 3 The Bike

After getting out of the water and removing all the “seaweed” I ran to the wetsuit strippers.  The wetsuit strippers were two young girls who got quite a kick out of pulling me around and removing my wetsuit.  Honestly, I think they thought I as hot.  ;-)

Breaking the seal in the morning leads to issues.
This is how I felt.
(All the water fountains in Augusta where purple for the race)
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Out of the wetsuit and into the bathroom!  As any triathlete knows, once you break the seal in the morning it’s all downhill from there.  I spent most of the prerace morning in the bathroom.  Normally, I never have to go back to the bathroom after the race starts.  That’s what the swim is for (oh like you don’t do it also) but I do not care how much I tried I could not mentally break the seal in the wetsuit.  So I had to make a pit stop after being stripped.

Speaking of being stripped, this is something you only see in Augusta,
a strip-joint next to church next to a bar. 
How convenient!

I took my time in transition.  I put on sunscreen because my German/Dutch ancestry makes me a vampire and I burn by merely walking into the sunlight.  Put on sock, shoes, etc.  This race I was proud of myself because I remembered to take off my cleat covers before getting on the bike.



!Off I go!
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Off I go on the bike.  The GA road conditions suck. There are lots of potholes and uneven terrain but the minute you cross into SC the roads are great.  Apparently GA does not put the money into keeping their roads very nice.

At a snails pace
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The ride was mostly rolling hills.  No really steep hills.  It was nothing an average cyclist could not handle.  Almost all of the race was pretty, country roads and was well policed by volunteers and police officers.

There were four aid stations, each about 18 miles apart.  Water, Poweraid, bananas, PowerBars, etc were handed out.

What was annoying were all the people cheating.  It looked like the Tour de France with all the pelotons that were passing me.  I could tell who the “best” age groups where because each wave of pelotons where by age group.   There was not an official to be seen.  During the entire race I only saw a judge 3 times.  Most of these cyclists believe it is not cheating if they do not get caught.  WTC really has to fix this issue. 

Man I look old! I'm only in my lower 30s.
I need to double check in I am the right age group.
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One peloton nearly took me out by clipping my front wheel.  I yelled some “kind” words to the cyclist.  When he turned around I have him a “salute”.

Throwing the Ronnie James Dio horns!
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Later in the race I found out one of my friends hits some sand/gravel and crashed.  The cyclist behind her was so close that she ran over my friend when she went down.  Luckily she suffered only a cracked helmet and minor scrapes and was able to continue on with the race and finish.

One interesting sign during the race was “Get off my roads and go home!”  Apparently, this guy did not like the race going on on “his roads.”  Sorry buddy WTC just signed a agreement with Augusta till 2014. 

The ride went good.  I average 18.85mph (with the hills) and finished at 2:58:16.