The Triathlon- Part Two- The Bike

The Day Before- Setting up the Bike Transition

Starting the Bike Ride

On the Bike Course

The bike ride was by far the best part of the triathlon!  I got out of the water so elated and energetic and jumped onto the bike full of energy and ready to go.  My transition time was about 5 minutes.  All along I’ve been struggling with slow transitions because I ALWAYS have to go to the bathroom after the swim.  The key to this problem is to pee in the water before getting out.  I’ve never been able to relax enough to do this, until this time!

I set off on the bike, thinking I was all set.  But, at about mile 1, I realized that I really needed to go to the bathroom again. Luckily, there was a bathroom nearby that I knew of from my camping trip, so I stopped.  This probably added 4 minutes to my time, but made the ride a whole lot more enjoyable!

I felt really, really happy on the bike ride.  I was ecstatic!  I had a lot of energy and I started passing people, which felt good after being steadily passed during the swim.  The course was mostly uphill for the first 15.5 miles, with a steep uphill for 5 or so of those miles.  That uphill was harder this time than it had been on the camping trip.  On the camping trip, I swam about 800 meters in the morning, then we had lunch, then did the bike ride, so I was rested.  This time my body was tired, even though my spirit was full of energy.  It got tough so I started singing to myself an old army cadence that I modified a bit.  I started with, “I can get to Sunriver just like this.  All the way to Sunriver never quit!”  and after awhile I started singing about all the tough stuff in my life that I’ve gotten through- divorce, cancer, single parenthood, deaths of loved ones, etc.  When I got through all the tough stuff, I had a big epiphany- I started singing “I can celebrate my life just like this.  Celebrate my life never quit!”  I realized that so much of my life has been about getting through something hard.  I have had moments of celebration in my life, but not whole long stretches of celebration.  The bike ride was, for me, a 29 mile celebration of my life.  I ended the bike ride feeling 10 feet tall, magnificently transformed into a strong, powerful, awesome, self-confident WONDER WOMAN!

On the ride I used my helmet camera for the first time.  My brother, Steve, gave it to me for my birthday- thanks Steve!  I had practiced with it, but hadn’t yet used it on a ride.  I attached the remote to my bike, but it didn’t work.  So, I just kept the camera in my back pocket, then took it out, started it, attached it to my helmet, filmed, then detached it, turned it off, and put it back in my pocket.  I don’t yet have the capability to edit the video, so the clips start and end a bit rough (no, it’s not me wiping out at the end, just fumbling with the camera).  I’m including all of the clips I took because they are all amazing reminders to me of this peak life experience.