The crew met up at the Frankston pier car park, the commitment of this group of people I train with is remarkable. And yes it was still raining. It was my first chance to show off my new bike. It got a bit of attention I can tell you that much. A few of the guys were asking if it was a carbon frame, I was so proud I could answer and say, nope it's FACT frame; a Function, Advance, Composite (more than just carbon), Technology frame. This mouthful breaks down to; a combination of design, material selection and manufacturing that allows the Specialized team to consider the performance of the bike as a whole, rather than purely focusing on the weight of stiffness.
As we were gearing up for our 3 hour ride I had a thought, 'Oh gosh, I haven't event check if my clip-in shoes match the new pedals!' It was kind of too late now, thank god the guys at Total Rush new what they were doing! I saddled up; with my 2 drink bottles of gatorade 'isotonic lemon' is my favorite, 2 gels and 2 clif bars, clipped in (quickly making sure I could clip out) and mentally prepped my self for a 3 hour ride ( 92mins T2; an easy pace, turn around, 92mins T3; race pace)
The quick take off was the first notable change that I felt. Rather than having to push to get the bike moving, the ultra light frame worked with me, and straight up I knew I was in for an entirely different experience. Heading out, the T2 pace allowed the crew of 25+ to stick together as we wound our way from Frankston to Mornington. It's was when we up Balcome hill that the group began to split and my legs weren't fatiguing a quick as they did on the Trek monster. I kept to T2 the whole way to Rye eating at 45min intervals and ensuring I had drunk a whole bottle before turing around.
Working at race pace from 92mins, was going to be a challenge, new bike or not. We had a head wind and the rain was still falling thick and fast. I kept pace with Phill for quite some time. In passing a group of 3 guys, I think not only my flash wheels but me being a quick chick on a bike, put a rocket up their saddles. Not long after swiftly passing them, all of a sudden they had amped up their speed to be riding along side us. 'What are you training for?' they were asking. We lost them as we continued with our T3 effort. It was such a smooth ride, the bike didn't shake or vibrate, regardless of it not being an 'aero' road bike.
I was stoked that I still had fuel in the tank to power up the last few hills coming back into Frankston. With the ride over, the skies miraculously cleared as I transitioned into the run. Rookie error, I didn't bring dry sock so soggy feet for 14km's it was! I downed another gatorade and took another 2 gels, and set out towards Chelsea. It's a quick shuffle off the bike, legs are heavy and feet are tingly. Surprisingly I clocked 4:15min for my 1st kilometer and averaged 4:20min/per km for the 40mins of race pace on the run. I love the tee tree track along side the Nepean Hwy. It's soft under foot, and I love never really know where I am. To finish of the quick pace of the 40mins my mind was set on small milestones. Focusing on keeping pace for the next 5mins, thats achievable. And always reassessing the body. I was so ready when it hit 40:00 on my Garmin to take it easy for the next 20mins to bring it home.
All up we covered 85km on the bike and 13.5km on the run. Throw in a swim and we were just short of a half ironman! Not a bad effort for a Sunday morning!
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| drying off after it's first shower |
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| killer tip! stuff your wet shoes with newspaper and place in the sun/heater, they'll be bone dry for the next day's use! |
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