Since this was my best part of the race I have broken it into a couple of posts
Again starting with the basics;
2012 2013 Diff.
Bike: 7:14:52 6:04:14 -1:09:38
If I had to say that one leg made the biggest difference, it was the bike. I actually had to use a time calculator to computer the difference!
To begin, the course was the same as the previous year. The roads had experienced a year of wear and tear. Also there were a few patches of repairs. Other than those minor differences an exact copy of the 2012 race. I still drove the course the day before to familiarize myself with the course.
I was looking for 3 basic things. First and foremost checking for areas that would present dangerous situations. Knowing where steep hills are and sharp corners can be the difference between finishing and not. I am not just talking about serious injuries but anywhere you could have an incident that would take you out of the race. A damaged rim will take you out of the race just as quickly as an injury. You may be able to finish with an injury but not a broken bike. So knowing these areas and what to do when you approach them is very important.
Secondly I like to have an overall sense of the course. Mostly for mental reasons. It is easy to stay motivated and focused in areas that have a lot of spectators. I have always found the noise and "action" very motivating. It is the longer lonelier sections that can wear on you psychologically. The stretch that I was most concerned about had not changed from last years race.
The course was an out then a double loop and back course. The double loop was a 30 mile loop in Oldham county east of Louisville. I have done a bunch of 70.3 races and I am familiar with the bike course at IM Texas (the Woodlands area north of Houston). I'll say that nothing matches the course at Louisville. It s a beautiful ride. Being Kentucky, you would assume that there would be lots of horses. You would be correct!!! The 30 mile loop is full of nice roads, great scenery and lots of horses.
There were 3 basic sections to the loop. The first is very populated. There is a water station as you get close to the town of La Grange. The town does a first job of hosting there part of the event. After you leave the water station you turn east and head into the main part of town. This is the funniest part of the entire bike course. La Grange shuts down the main part of the town for the race. It is loud and rowdy! Literally thousands of people cheering. Busses run from downtown Louisville to this area of the race. It is cool!!
The second part of the loop is short and challenging. It begins about 5 miles east of la Grange. It is a 7-8 mile stretch of sharp turns, steep climbs and narrow roads. You definitely need to be careful here.
On to section 3. This is the long lonely part of the loop. Mentally I would say that this would be the toughest part of the course. I was prepared for this. My goal here was to use the lack of distractions to focus on 2 things. One my drafting (legal), and two inventory. I would focus on the person I was following making sure I was doing my best to use every legal advantage. Am I the correct distance (4 bike lengths), are they slowing down or speeding up? In other words am I following the right person or should I look for another one. As for inventory I wanted to go through everything I could possibly check. Nutrition, bike, body and mind, is it all in working order. Have I been eating properly. Does the bike fell and sound right. Do I have any aches or pains that are unusual or new?
Third and final reason for driving the course was a new one for this year. I wanted to find areas where I could be aggressive. I had a strategy that my coach and I worked out for the race. Still, there was room in that strategy for tactical choices throughout the race. So I was looking for areas where I could adhere to the strategy and still make tactical choices that were more aggressive than last year. I was looking for areas such as long down hill stretches were I could attack and ride aggressively. Last years race I did not peddle on about 90% of the down hill sections. I coasted to conserve my energy for the run part of the race. With another year of training under my belt I felt that I could be more aggressive on the bike.
So during the drive these areas got most of my attention. Some hills, way too steep to do anything other than focus on not crashing (fast enough without peddling thank you). There were a couple on section 2 of the loop that had sharp turns at the bottom so they were out as well. Even after eliminating these there were still a good many parts of the course that were excellent candidates for attack!!!
Next post the bike leg itself.
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