I went to the local bike store to buy myself a pedal wrench because I was having trouble getting my pedals switched back over from the mountain bike since the Tango. Yes, this is the first time I have ridden my road bike since August. Get off my case. While there, the owner, who is a pretty good triathlete himself asked me what I was doing this year, and I told him. I mentioned the Timberman and he said "Oh, that's a tough one." I said "How so?" thinking all half-irons are pretty tough. He said "It's hilly." This got me thinking I should check out the elevation map of the Timberman. The Spirit of Morgantown is kind enough to include this information on their website, but Endorfun doesn't seem to think it's necessary. Surely no one at Endorfun weighs in excess of 250 pounds though, or they would understand the need for this information. I didn't have the gumption to try to translate the course map onto MapMyRun or the G-Pedometer map and see what it looked like. Anybody up for that? Or is it out there somewhere? I found this report -- "The course had a few hills but everything was definitely manageable. I was actually expecting the course to be much hillier and found it to be pretty flat to rolling. I stayed seated for all but the last climb and just spun my way up everything else. I could have stayed seated on the last hill, but I wanted to pass someone so I just powered up the hill." That doesn't sound so bad. I can live with rolling hills alright. It's the two-mile long ascents that kill me. Of course I stayed seated up Devil's Hill too, so that doesn't tell me much.
Then I was thinking that the wave arrangement might put me right in front of the sag vehicle. That would be embarrassing. If I end up biking in front of the sag vehicle, that means the entire race will be waiting for me to finish, because I'm probably not going to pass anybody on the run. Unless of course it's the Screen Actors Guild vehicle looking for an Orc or something. Then it's cool.
Anyway, I got my pedals swapped in a jiffy. The 12 dollar wrench was definitely worth it. No pain, no scraped knuckles. No stripped pedal nuts. I rode my bike on the trainer for 45 minutes and it was all good. Looks like things are picking up. Next I have to swap out my aero bars, which are also still on the MTB. Can't do these long rides without those.
4 comments:
here you go.
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/nh/laconia/704996429
go under settings and turn on elevation if needed.
You've got a triple on your bike right? Nothing to worry about, unless you still can't shift into all your rings.
I did the timberman half in 2007. It is not as hilly as people talk it up to be unless you are from somewhere with no hills. It has some hills at the beginning and then end and is mostly flat through the middle. The year I did it I found wind to be more of a factor on the bike than hills!
I did spend most of my bike ride in my only half just ahead of the sag wagon. I could see the lights without looking back, so I knew they were close. Unlike you though, I new if I started running that there was a chance of passing some people. The swim killed me (who would have guessed) so my legs were already fried going to the bike. I guess that you need to train for something like this.
Train? What's that mean? Isn't that some vehicle that travels on steel rails and hauls large payloads?
Hmm, now that I mention it, that does sound like a description of me on the bike.
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