Not the best of days for me!
My main aim for this race was to stay safe and enjoy it. If i could do a decent time it would be a bonus, but with 4 weeks until Ironman it wasnt a priority race.
The wind was howling at the start and I was actually quite surprised that the portaloos werent blown over. We had to load into our pens 50 minutes before our start – no idea why so early other than to make people more nervous as we leant against our bikes shivering. I was very lucky to have stayed at the Westin the night before, thanks to Gundle, so I rolled out of the hotel and into my start pen in about 2 minutes. There wasnt much point in a warm up cycle with the long wait. Starting at 6.28 (D seeding) meant it was only just getting light as our bunch was released over the start mats.
I mangaed to loose the front bunch as we headed down the M3 so a group of about 10, with 3 of us doing the work, tried to chase in vain. Before long we were swallowed up by the next bunch anyway.
All seemed to be going fine until somewhere around Smitswinkle some idiot tried to throw some rubbish, or something, to the side and became unbalanced and fell, bringing me down with him. Ironman flashed through my head and Dave’s words ‘Dont get injured’! As the bunch headed off into the distance I quickly got up; I was still in one piece and my bike seemed ok except for bent handle bars. Phew!
My hand and knee were bleeding but I was just thankful it hadnt been worse! I rode very defensively from here in fear of anything else happening.
A puncture as we came along through Ocean View topped off my race. From here it was a solo ride home. It was a good scenic training ride if nothing else!
Time: 3:28:59