Day two of camp started at 6:30 AM. Andrew and Jessica from FTP were smart and made sure our host hotel (Holiday Inn Downtown Chattanooga) served a decent free breakfast, with the key word on FREE. Triathlon isn't a cheap sport - every little bit helps. Around 7:45 AM we all rolled out from the hotel and started our 110 mile ride for the day. The weather was a little iffy. It had rained during the night and the streets were still wet. We also felt some sprinkles at the start, though nothing too bad.
The plan was to ride together until we made it onto the more rural roads that make up most of the IMCHOO course. It was going well for the first 10 miles or so...then something happened that has never happened to me before - I fell while riding my bike (Note: I've fallen while racing BMX and I have fallen on purpose to avoid a car, but I've never just been riding along and fallen). The cause of my fall is a common one - railroad tracks. In this case, we were riding along in a group when one of my FTP teammates slid out on the wet tracks and went down pretty hard. I was almost immediately behind him, but fortunately wasn't going that fast, so I was able to get around him. Unfortunately, my tires slid out on the tracks and I went down, too. Good news - other than a bruise to my shin that is still purple over a week and a half later, I'm fine. The bike is fine, too, though a little scratched up. The main thing I was upset about with my fall was that my primary bottle of Infinit nutrition spilt all over the asphalt. Not only would my nutrition plan be messed up for the entire ride, but Infinit is expensive! I hated wasting an entire bottle of it like that.
Anyway, we started riding again at a nice, easy pace. Coach Andrew kept stressing to us that we shouldn't kill ourselves on the first lap of the bike, because any hard effort on the first lap would certainly come back to bite us on the second lap. We pretty much cruised and enjoyed the Chattanooga countryside. I held back and didn't take too many pictures, which I'm totally regretting because there was guy on a UNICYCLE out there. Seriously, y'all - a unicycle. Madness. Anyway, I did stop to take a photo of this little guy. Nice to see some support from the locals.
Nikki and me with our new friend.
I'm not much on writing detailed reports on actual courses, or what my heart rate was and what not. Just know it's a 2-lap course with rolling hills and two significant hills that will really hurt the second time around. Lindsey, Nikki and I stuck together the entire ride and all was going well until we entered Chickamauga the second time. It had gotten progressively colder throughout the day and the wind had REALLY started to pick up. We could see dark (almost black) clouds ahead, as well. Not a good sign, but what are you going to do? We were still 20+ miles from the hotel and we had to get back, so we just kept riding.
Of course, the second (and worst) of the previously significant hills is in this stretch. I kept saying a little prayer that the rain would hold off until we got over the hill. I wasn't worried about the climbing - I can handle that (though slowly). No, I was worried about descending down the biggest hill on the IM course in the rain on my race wheels. These wheels are made of carbon fiber which basically don't stop in the rain - the brake pads won't grip. Yes - you read that correctly. Triathletes use gear that is useless in the rain. Smart of us, right? Anything to save a few minutes on race day.
Fortunately, the rain held off and we made it safely over the hill. However, the FTP Mobile was there waiting for us at the bottom of the hill. That couldn't be good. Coach Andrew got out of the car and motioned us over. He told us that hell was breaking out weather-wise in Chattanooga, and that he was giving us the option to abandon. At this point, we were at 102 miles, which is the farthest I'd ever ridden (by 2 miles). But we were supposed to ride 110, and anyone who knows me knows I HATE not hitting a training goal. If the schedule says ride 110, then I'm freakin' riding 110!!
But then I stopped for a second and thought, "What would Dudley want me to do?" I knew immediately he'd tell me to abandon. I mean, My COACH thought the weather was bad enough to come out and find us. And I had already fallen once on wet railroad tracks - did I really want to face them again? So, we abandoned. We were very fortunate because Jonathan (one of the other "campers" who had already finished his ride) was also worried about us. He was waiting with Andrew and Jessica with his car because not all of our bikes would fit in the FTP Mobile.
Sure enough - we had just gotten the bikes loaded up when it started to rain. Hard. I was really glad we chose to abandon because 1) the whole not being able to stop in the rain thing, and 2) the roads back into town have a lot more car traffic. It really would have been dangerous have been riding out in that mess.
Of course, as soon we got back to the hotel, the rain stopped. I had flashing idea of getting back on my bike when I remembered that we still had a 3 mile run to knock out before dinner. So, Nikki and I threw our bikes in the room, changed shoes and started running. I was stupid because I forgot to eat something before running, so I got a little lightheaded half-way though, but I made it back OK. I was surprised (and happy) at how good my legs felt considering we had just ridden 102 miles.
The last stretch - running back up the hill to the hotel.
After a quick shower, we headed down to Urban Stack for the team dinner. It was a lot of fun to relax with everyone after two hard days. Andrew and Jessica also had a Q&A session about all things Ironman. Chattanooga will be the first attempt at an Ironman for most of us at the camp, and the Q&A really helped a lot. It was also cool to think about how much we'd done in the past two days, and that we still had one more day to go!
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