I debated on what I should call this blog. I thought "I Survived" was appropriate but it was already taken by a television show. "I shouldn't be Alive" was also taken. I went with "Peachtree City Training Day" because it seemed less negative.
The day started for me with a 6am alarm clock wake-up. I ate a bowl of Cheerios with a sliced up banana and Lactaid. The Lactaid keeps gaseous emissions to a normal level.
I got to Chad's house at a little before 8am. Jared arrived a few minutes later. Jared and Chad are both doing Ironman Florida this year and, it just so happens, so am I. Chad was trying out a new tri-bike fit he'd just gotten done at All3Sports and Jared was riding his Felt road bike. I had my trusty QR CD0.1.
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| Chad, Jared, and Neil |
Chad's wife Tamara was kind enough to take this great picture of us before the ride. In my case, I'm glad we took a
before picture because an
after picture wouldn't have been so pretty. I'm sure I quit smiling somewhere around mile 60. While they didn't drop me, they had ample opportunity. A well placed minivan was a welcome relief. Those last 10 miles I was just barely hanging on. I tried my best to play the "I'm old and feeble" card but they wouldn't have it.
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| Chad and Jared on the back roads of south Fayette County |
Enough complaining! The ride went well. Chad was pleased with his new fit and Jared rocked that road bike. As we rode, I found myself wondering how many different types of asphalt there is. If one were to categorize the road surface, degree of incline, median between the lanes, width of the road, the amount of asphalt to the right of the white line, and the condition of the ground and grass and plants to the right of the asphalt there would have to be upwards of 200 variations. I briefly thought about attempting this project myself but I quickly came to my senses.
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| Chad having some fun and loving the new fit |
Tamara and she and Chad's kids provided golf cart support on the run. They carried our drinks while we ran on the cart paths. That was an awesome idea and we all appreciated the support. I thought so much of it that I took the opportunity to ride the last 1000' feet while Chad and Jared soldiered on.
On a side note, I've got X-Lab Gorilla Cages on my tri-bike. They're not perfect but they're pretty close to it. I rarely ever lose a bottle. The picture below shows the regular water bottle and the Purist water bottle that I used during the ride. Once the Purist bottle was empty I couldn't keep it in my bottle cage.
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| Regular and Purist water bottles |
Some final thoughts regarding training distance, water, nutrition, and Chamois Butt'r. Since the Tony Serrano Century on April 13th I've been mostly riding short 30+/- mile club rides. Seventy mile rides are harder - do more of them. When Chad says he's bringing two water bottles, you decide to bring two water bottles. But then you find out that he has a secret third water bottle tucked into his jersey, don't believe him if you ask him that question again next Wednesday. Nutrition - bring more (and eat it). Chamois Butt'r - bring some (and use it).
Thanks for reading.
