On Wednesday, October 16th I had the opportunity to ride with my friends in Peachtree City. I hadn't ridden much in the past two weeks so I got the okay to sit back and draft while my friends did all the hard work up front. The route took Chad, Jared John, Martha and I out and back from PTC through Tyrone, Palmetto, Fairburn, Union City, College Park, and East Point. We also picked up Emile along the way. We covered 93.43 miles in 4 hours and 35 minutes. Our moving average was 20.5 mph. I have to disclose at this point that I
did not in any way do anything that might resemble a pull on this ride. I rode in the back of the group and let John, Jared and Chad wear themselves out. Jared and Chad will be with me on November 2nd in Panama City Beach for Ironman Florida. They better wait for me at the finish line because I'm probably not going to do a sub-11 hour race this time around.
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Jared, John, and Emile |
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Chad and me (I'm standing on the curb) |
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Martha's Care Bear socks |
I'm gonna go out on a limb at this point and give an educated guess for Jared and Chad's 2013 IMFL finish times.
I'm thinking Jared is going sub-10 hours. I'll go so far as to say that Jared will finish in 9 hours and 55 minutes, if he's able to get his nutrition right. This is his first full Ironman so who knows what he's capable of. What will slow Jared down is that he's too strong. He's got too much upper body muscle that he's got to carry and feed all day. There are some reports that Jared may be a less than efficient swimmer. He may feel compelled to makeup any swim deficit too soon and blow his overall race. I hope not.
Chad is gonna finish in under 11 hours. I'm guessing 10 hours and 25 minutes. Chad's even performance between all three segments should boost his confidence. He just missed the 11 hour mark in 2011. I think he's probably better prepared this year.
So, with the Ironman Florida estimates out of the way, lets get back to our PTCto Atlanta ride.
This was a similar route to the infamous
PTC to ATL and Back ride in the rain in August. That ride took me out on the railroad tracks. I took Jared and Chad out.
This ride was much more enjoyable. No rain - No crashes!
Thanks for reading.