Well, this week has been eagerly awaited for some time, it was time to recce the IMUK bike route. The new two-lap course was officially published some weeks ago. Having read several reviews by people who had already sampled its delights and complained of steeper, tougher hills; rough road surfaces, tight, technical bends and hairy descents that could have you off your bike, I was a tad apprehensive to say the least.
The Lancashire countryside is my home turf. Born and bred in Blackburn, this route should have been more familiar than it actually was. In truth, while I know the names of all the towns and villages and was never further than 30-minutes by car from where I grew up, I could have got lost at any given point!! That getting lost started at 5.30am when it took IronPhil & I a ridiculous length of time to drive from my sister's house in Blackburn to the Reebok Stadium in Bolton. This will be T2 on the day, that means it's where I'll finish the bike and start my marathon.
So, we finally set off, armed with 6 A4 pages of directions all stuffed into a polypocket - yep 6! Good job Ironphil's bike handling is good enough to read map directions on the go. It was grey, windy and cool as we headed out of the city onto the winding country roads, surprisingly busy with traffic for so early on a Saturday morning. The first big climb comes quite early on the course - Sheep House Lane - this is the notorious Alpe d'Huez of IMUK Bolton. In previous years, triathletes have had to climb this beast three times on the 3-lap course, it's now twice. I'd heard and read so much about it, that I felt the need to get off my bike at the bottom and make some kind of reverential sacrifice to the gods of Ironman to ease my passage on the day. I couldn't spare any inner tubes though so I decided to sit tight and spin on. It was a long and steady climb, but early in the day, on fresh legs, it was not a problem, in fact I was sorely tempted to say: "Is that all you've got to throw at me?". But I kept that thought intact. I was slightly in awe of those who'd gone before me, whose names where spray painted on the tarmac, motivational messages from previous races that had weathered the winter. I could imagine the hill, lined with supporters on the day and how it would feel to be cycling up there. I got a flutter of excitement, fear, nerves and then I was at the top. Not so bad, but as IronPhil warned, you wouldn't be saying that 3rd time round with around 80 miles of cycling in your legs!
The new addition, Hunter's Hill was a different story though. No bravado here, this is a proper hill, shorter, but much steeper, about 17%. No tougher than anything I regularly encounter on my weekly rides, but the effort needed to keep up the momentum is certainly one to sort the men from the boys. Especially when I hit this monster at about 80 miles - just hope I have it in me to stay in the saddle by then! As for the bits in-between these hills, well it's undulating and exposed to the wind in parts. So the verdict is - keep up the training and you'll be fine. I've not had a pleasant surprise - it's not going to be a walk in the park. But, I've got no fear either. I know that I can handle it, and although I was glad to
finish, I wasn't running on empty, I wouldn't have broken down and wept if another lap was on the cards.
http://www.220triathlon.com/news/new-ironman-uk-bike-route-a-tough-nut-to-crack-says-tester/8480.html
We met quite a few other guys out on the course too, no doubt some were training for the day, judging by the Mdot tattooed calfs that passed me. However, we did befriend a fellow cyclist for a short while who was a veteran of last years IMUK and was going for it again this year. He joked that having been so pleased with finishing it last year, he'd gone to McDonalds and not come out. Hence, he was finding the training tough this year. As we dropped him on the climbs, I selfishly thought: "at least there's somebody else in this race who cycles slower than me!"
I am a bit daunted by how long it took me, I'm not sure how much faster I will get between now and then on the bike and am definitely bracing myself for 8-hours in the saddle. OMG - 8-hours of non-stop cycling .... perhaps I should superglue Perfer et Obdura to my backside right now to build up an ass of iron, what have I let myself in for?!!
No comments:
Post a Comment