Ironman California 70.3 has now come and gone. Upon reflection, my experience was better than I thought on race day. A swim personal record and a run personal record were good achievements for the day.
However, not falling off of my bike was as good as I could accomplish last Saturday. My first race-day flat came after hitting a torn-up piece of asphalt while stalking (at a race-legal distance, of course) the second-place age-group rider in front of me. I am now happy that I don't have road rash scars to heal from. The new tire on its maiden voyage was destroyed and perhaps the carbon-fiber wheel was fractured as well.
So now, I count my blessings that I stayed upright on my bike and will live to race another day. My only hope is that I don't have to replace tires and wheels after 29 miles of use.
DFL > DNF > DNS
However, not falling off of my bike was as good as I could accomplish last Saturday. My first race-day flat came after hitting a torn-up piece of asphalt while stalking (at a race-legal distance, of course) the second-place age-group rider in front of me. I am now happy that I don't have road rash scars to heal from. The new tire on its maiden voyage was destroyed and perhaps the carbon-fiber wheel was fractured as well.
So now, I count my blessings that I stayed upright on my bike and will live to race another day. My only hope is that I don't have to replace tires and wheels after 29 miles of use.
DFL > DNF > DNS