Now I had to focus on keeping a decent pace but not push myself too hard. I had a long way to go. I knew the route and knew there was some tough climbing ahead. But none too tough. I had to get my nutrition right on the bike. If I got it wrong it was game over.
I ate an energy bar as early as possible and kept sipping at my energy drink.
Quite a few riders passed me in the first hour but that didn't bother me, in fact it made me feel pretty good that I had obviously done OK in the swim. 1hr 23mins for the swim.
We headed West onto the Angle Peninsula, I kept my heart rate a nice low at around 135 and found myself gliding along quite nicely. I knew there was a long climb coming up and when it did I changed down a gear to keep my heart rate steady. A few people passed me but as soon as we crested the hill I passed them all while they recovered from the climb.
As we got to the military area we had to cross a cattle grid and I saw one rider down just by he grid. I think it was a pro and he was on the return leg. He was under a silver blanket and being attended to by paramedics. Seeing that took some of the fun out of things for a while.
I rode alongside a guy called David for a while and we chatted away. The nice thing about our race numbers on our backs is that our names were on there too. I made a point of saying hi to each rider, by name, that I passed. During the course of the ride I came across no less than 5 "Davids".
On many occasions a rider would pass me and encourage me and use my name. I have to say that felt great.
At the first feed station I had finished my first bottle of drink and took a replacement bottle. I didn't stop there but soon wished I had as before long needed a pee. So as soon as I could I found a hedge to hide behind.
Once I got to Narberth I knew we had some good descents and the worst of the climbing to come.
I still felt good and loved the descents but wished it was dry. Due to the rain, all the roads were still wet.
I found myself flying past riders on the descents and they would catch me on the ups. The descent into Wisemans Bridge was a blast and the climb out was pretty harsh. A couple a people were walking up the hill. I used my lowest gear and just ground my way up. Even here there were supporters cheering us on. I was loving it.
Then came the blast into Saundersfoot and what an event! Hundreds of people lined the streets and made the climb out seem easy.
Before I knew it I was riding into Tenby, now all I had to do was another 42 miles and that leg was over. I cruised along at a steady pace. I now started to eat another energy bar and found it hard to swallow. This was a bad sign, so I took tiny bites and drank lots. I began to nibble on my peanut butter roll and even found that hard to swallow. I was getting tired. As we came into Narberth again I felt pretty rough, my stomach had been cramping for the past 30 minutes or so. I began to get quite anxious about everything. For a split second panic set in, I just couldn't fail! I managed to get that chimp out my head quickly. I knew I couldn't eat any more so kept up the fluid intake and gels.
As we rode through the main street of the town I passed a guy called Darren. He looked tired and I asked him if he was OK. He said "No" he said he was feeling weak. I asked him when he last ate, he did not know. He had no gels on him. I had a caffeinated gel on me and passed that to him knowing that it would give him a huge boost. We swapped stories of our pain symptoms and I left him at the cross roads as we left the town.
Even though the biggest climbs were to come, I had a sense of satisfaction creep up on me and soon after Narberth my stomach settled down which gave me a real boost. At this point I was being passed by the pro's and wished them well as they went by. Again the climbs were made bearable by the supporters. My friends Jonathan and Mary were on the climb out of Saudersfoot and I waved to them as I passed. I was so chuffed to see them again.
As I rode down the long hill into Tenby I saw a stream of runners coming up the hill. I was tired and felt awful when I saw all the runners already well into their run. And the road was so long! I had to snap out of it and focus on me. I had time and still had a good chance of finishing this thing.
The ride through the town into transition was amazing, again the support was incredible. I got to transition and finding my lace on the rack was simple. I ran into the tent and grabbed my red bag.
I changed my socks and shoes. The volunteers were a great help again. In fact I had quite good banter with the girls helping. I asked for quick manicure promising not to get it smudged on the run.
I was nervous about the run, this is my weakest discipline. I faffed in the tent in no real hurry to get going. Eventually I had to get going, I had no reason not to. I jogged out into the open air.
Bike route.
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