Rev3 Half Rev Race Report - Bike

I ran past the other athletes mounting their bikes and had a great running mount onto the bike.  Mark wasn't too far behind me and when he caught up he said he was going to draft behind me for the entire ride.

I know he wasn't going to draft in the illegal sense of the word but just ride behind me.  Which he didn't have to do because he could have crushed the bike course.

My strategy on the bike was to take it easy for the first 28 miles and then increase the effort for the second half.  It was hard to not push the pace too hard with so many people around.

Leaving Cedar Point I was consistently passing people.  At times I had to push the pace so that I wasn't drafting and could make a quick pass.  But it was a little congested the first 15 miles.  We were sometimes 3 wide on the street as passes were made at different speeds. 

The roads were in good condition and the recent chip 'n seal was confined to a short stretch.

My nutriton plan on the bike consisted of two bottles with Perpetuem, one bottle of Nuun, two Clif Z-Bars and one Honey Stinger waffle.  I also had a PowerGel to get me ready just prior to the run.

During the first hour I drank my Perpetuem and also used my PowerGel.  My effort was steady but I wanted an extra boost for some of the hills.  There were PowerGels at the bike aid stations so I knew I could grab one on the go.

During my second hour I switched to my solid foods.  The first Z-Bar went down fine.  It was good to have some solid food.  When I was  reaching for my waffle the second Z-Bar fell to the ground and was a distant memory in a matter of seconds.  According to USAT rules I could have been penalized for abandoning equipment or littering but it just wasn't possible to turn around on Rt. 113...more dangerous than worth it.  So I ate my waffle and switched to my Perpetuem bottle early.

I didn't need anything from the aid stations until around mile 31 when I could feel the pressure of a full bladder.  I would have to empty my bladder soon and wanted to take a "shower" when I was done.

After passing through the town of Berlin Heights I found some nice rollers to relieve myself.  One athlete behind me passed while I was taking care of business and washing off.  When I passed him a short time later I apologized for him having to see that.  He thought it was a good idea and may need to do it himself.

I was picking up the tempo by now and I could see Mark ahead of me.  Along Rt. 113 he had managed to pull away and I didn't realize it.  I meant to keep in contact with him and I wasn't focused enough to follow him.

Now I could see him down the road and he was a target for me to catch and pass.  Unfortunately I was also catching up to a lot of other people which caused us to start bunching up again.  It seemed like a constant rotation of the same group.  One person would pass on an uphill, I would pass on a downhill, everyone took turns passing on the flats.  With 16 miles to go the traffic was getting bad again.


I hated being in a group like this and tried to stay off the draft created by the person in front of me.  I must have been getting some benefit because eventually I would start creeping up and have to pass several people and take the lead.  I would stay out there until someone else had recovered enough to make another pass. 

When we turned back onto Cedar Point Road I decided to back off the effort for the final 6 miles and give the legs a chance to recover and be ready to run.

Despite my reduced effort I was still close to a lot of people.  I tried to be staggered and stay out of a draft but it was difficult.  Of course a motorcycle pulled up behind me and I knew it was one of the USAT referees.  I immediately backed off my tempo and faded away from the person ahead of me.  I think the referee understood what I was doing and continued down the road. 

I started making some additional passes and the second USAT referee passed me while I was making a pass.  It was legit and she moved ahead to watch how others were riding.

I came into the Cedar Point parking lot with Mark and a couple others.  We made our way towards the transition area.  I slipped my feet from my shoes and was ready to dismount. 

Despite the crowds lining the road I spotted Aimee cheering for me.  I swung my right leg over the bike and prepared to dismount. I found the hole shot I wanted at the dismount line and hopped off the pedal right at the line and ran to my transition spot. 

I took off my helmet and started to slip on my shoes.  These were new running shoes and I never replaced the regular laces with Yankz.  So I tied my shoes, grabbed my race belt and hat, then started heading towards the transition exit.  Despite needing to tie my shoes I don't think my transition time was much slower.  My T2 time was 1:34.

I pressed the split button on my watch and started my 13.1 mile run to the finish line.

My 56 mile ride took me 2:37:46 with an average speed of 21.3 MPH.  I had been passed by some guys in my age group so I was leaving transition in 6th place.