Ironman Louisville 2016

Ok,Ironman Louisville 2015 is safely behind us. As usual the Goose Creek Cycle team experienced the race from the sidelines. As bike shop guys we experience the race a little differently from those of you who were racing or cheering on your friends and family members.

The Shop rats (Lane, Levi and Cam) set up their annual "lemonade" stand in the Goose Creek tent while the mechanics nervously check split times of the bikes we built or serviced going into the race.  While we like to see our riders do well,  the main thing we are looking for on our little electronic devices is even split times.    We are equally happy with a rider who's average pace is 14MPH at every split as with a rider whose pace is a solid 22MPH.  What we are looking for is the dreaded "Long Split".   The Long Split is that one where there was clearly a problem.   A suddenly drop from a 20MPH pace to a 10MPH pace screams mechanical problem.   And mechanical problem means either a crash,  or we made a mistake. 

This year we continued our clean streak.  To date, none of the bikes (at least that we know of) that we have either built for or serviced going into the race have had any major mechanical problems.  We like to think that this is a testament to the almost neurotic testing and retesting we do on bikes especially when someone has flown half way across the country or world to get here for this one ride. 

But something new happened at the 2015 Louisville Ironman.   This year the Shop Rats moms showed up and put their heads together and issued a challenge.   In past,  I had actually been forbidden from doing this race on account of the time it would take to train for it.   But now with the kids in school and a little extra time in the margins of our lives there is a possibility of getting back back to racing.  

Now keep in mind,  I am not a triathlete.  I have done one sprint triathlon.  If you look back far enough into history you will see that I have a background in 24 hour mountain bike racing,  so the distance here is maybe not as daunting as it might otherwise be,  but lately my focus has been on light commuting, beer drinking and snack cakes.  So with the exception of the fact that my extra layer of blubber helps me float a little better in the swim,  I am singularly unprepared for an Ironman.  

Truth be told,  I probably wont actually do it,  but I am putting this post up on the shop blog just so there is a public record that I said I would so now maybe I will have to.   I have a year,  so I am starting with baby steps.   Baby step one was to take a bunch of steroids to try to get rid of this terrible case of Poison Ivy I contracted clearing trails at Briar Hill.  Steroids can only help right?   Also,  and mainly because I was told that the chlorine would help dry up my poison ivy,  I got in the local pool for 20 minutes this morning before work.

So there you have it.   Day 1 training:  Don't drown for 20 minutes.  Mission Accomplished.