PPD B2B Bike

Bike

3:17.41

 (I now need a tri bike!)

       I owe my speedy bike time (speedy for me) to my dad. Two days before the race I had my bike tuned up at a cool shop in Wilmington. As we were unloading it to T1 on Friday he noticed that my back tire wasn't spinning all that well. Turns out the brake was very tight. I wouldn't have caught that so I'm super thankful he did. We aren't sure if it was like that for all of my 13 weeks of training ;/ or if it happened at the shop. Luckily the bike guy at T1 put it on the stand and loosened it right up. 

     The bike course was awesome! To get out of the Wrightsville Beach area we had to loop around and cross a bridge. Once we crossed the bridge we took a right and were on a long straight stretch for quite a while. That first stretch was something I wasn't expecting. My legs definitely were overwhelmed at first by my body and minds excitement to race. It took them about 5 miles to really get going. Thankfully there were awesome crowds of people in the first few miles who screamed "Go PPD!!" Some even realized that it was me riding past and giving them a thumbs up,  and they screamed my name...now how cool is that? How'd they know it was me? Well my ugly mug was on posters all over the PPD offices and at the race expo. Those cheers really got me through those first few miles and in the right mindset to get rocking. My speeds were crazy! 18-20 mph was what my computer was showing and I wasn't mashing at all. Either the wind was at my back or indeed I had been training for weeks with some tight break resistance. Hey, I'm blonde....

     About 5 miles in David, who is the CEO of PPD and incredible guy came riding past me. We had some laughs and then he said he was feeling good and busted out ahead. Pretty cool! At about mile 15 I hear a loud voice scream "chuuummp"  and I knew who it was right away, Eric and Garrett, my wild PPD heroes who ride as a father son tandem. *Read about their amazing story here!* As they wizzed by me we trash talked for a bit and then I saw them at the first aid station.  When I pulled off, a lady asked how I was and then helped me fill my bottle with water. She was just so cool and it was magical how quickly she got me squared away. That volunteer made my day! 

     I was back on the road in a jiffy and cruising at an average of 17.7 mph. People were still yelling "go PPD" and there were again a few "Go Emily's" scattered about too. The coolest was when other riders would cruise by and say "go girl" or give some other encouragements. My favorite was the guy who roared by me but had enough time to yell "I know who you are! You are the poster girrl!! Go!!!!" So cool. I was able to talk Tigers with a few guys, tell someone about cystic fibrosis and also explain what PPD does. A long stretch of the course cruised along Interstate 40...have you ever biked a race on an interstate? It was sweet..and fast! We had a few viaducts to cruise over but I gotta say again, this new "resistance" training paid off. I told myself at each little uphill I came to was like my tune ups in the hospital.  The start of the climbs were when I was sick and going into the hospital. As I cruised up the hill that is when I was on the up and up and the meds were kicking in. When I got to the top it was when I was at my best. And cruising downhill was when I was discharged. This little mind trick worked and I buzzed up the hills!

     My nutrition plan was spot on. I drank 1 full bottle of water every hour, my bottle of Perpetuem over the 3 hours and took in some Heed too. A Hammer Gel at hour 1 & 3, and my PB+J Bonk Bar at 2 hours. 2 Salt Stick caps every hour and 4 enzymes twice on the ride. Because my ride was at least 30 minutes faster than I was planning I didn't need that extra gel on the bike which was cool. 

     I gotta say that I am still excited about the double hand off I made at the last aid station. One girl had 2 bottles in her hand. She handed 1 to the guy right in front of me and then I said to here "'let's go for 2!" So she stuck that hand out with that bottle and I snatched it on my way by. We both laughed and cheered but it wasn't over there though. Right after her I spotted a girl holding gels. We made a seamless handoff and I was now the proud owner of 2 gels that would go into my jersey and get me through the run. Nothing like going 2 for 2 at a station! The best part was the bottle of water had a big hole in it. So every time I squeezed it to take a drink I got drenched..luckily it was hot and I could really appreciate the bath.

     I kept looking at my time and started doing math. "Am I really going to finish around 3hrs15? There must be some fierce headwinds that we are going to turn into." When a cool local racer told me that we were in the headwinds already, that's when I knew I was smoking the bike. I was SO geeked but then nervous...I told my mom, dad and the PPD peeps I would be in T2 30 minutes after my new arrival time!

     As I powered up the last bridge, slowly at this point (mile 55.5'ish) I was ready to be off the bike and in my running shoes. Magically that moment happened and I cruised into the chute to loud screams from my family and PPD friends..they didn't miss me!! This race has the only indoor transition area which was great. I handed my bike to a volunteer, hobbled to my T2 bag, changed shoes, peed (Real bathrooms!!) and put on my Rock CF hat and race number and hit the road. 

T2 Transition 4:14