Ironman Canada – a day like no other

calm lake – Sat. night

As many of you who were following along, quickly found out, our day was not how we had expected it to be.  It was a great morning, very relaxed getting into transition.  Our motel is directly across the street from the lake which adds so much convenience to what can be a rushed start.

Body marking before race

in transition

The lake was quite calm.  With the largest starting field ever, even my ‘favourite’ starting place seemed more congested this year.  I ended up having clear water for most of the first leg.  I had to stop twice around the 800m mark as I was having problems catching my breath (breathing problems have continued, although had seemed a bit better since we had arrived in Penticton), but the rest of the race was pretty relaxed.

The crowds on Main Street were amazing.  Lined up several deep as they cheered on their friends.  I was feeling pretty good and while I had been a bit worried in the swim that the day might not be so good, I found that riding relaxed and easy was going to be the best way to finish – albeit slower.

At 60km, I was shocked to see a cyclist wearing a Speed Theory tri jersey at the side of the road.  It was Mark!  He was carrying his bike and walking.  I quickly pulled over and found out that he had crashed earlier.  Going through an aid station, the cyclist in front of him missed the bottle exchange and the bottle dropped on the road.  Mark had one hand on his bars and the other hand reaching out to grab his bottle from the volunteer and couldn’t maneuver around the bottle quickly enough.  He went down…hard! 

He was a bit banged up with some scrapes, bruises, and sore hip, but his bike suffered some damage as well.  The rear derailleur was broken.  This is what moves the chain to different gear rings on the rear wheel.  He saw a bike support vehicle helping someone out with their flat tire and asked if they could take a look at his bike when they were done.  But when he realized it might take awhile, he decided to try to ride it.  All was fine until he tried to shift to another gear when he reached a climb heading into Osoyoos and the derailleur went right into the spokes and stopped the wheel.  He came to a skidding halt and realized the derailleur had broken off completely.  There weren’t a lot of options – his race was basically over.

Since I knew this wasn’t going to be ‘my’ day, I suggested he just take my bike and finish.  I knew during the swim that breathing might be an issue and I would rather see him finish the day.  Two potential problems – my bike is one size smaller than his and I have different pedals than he does…his bike shoe cleats don’t fit into my pedals.  But, if we could get the bike support vehicle, they could quickly put his pedals onto my bike and then all he would have to deal with is a slightly smaller bike.  Mark wasn’t crazy about this idea as he also wanted me to have the best shot possible of finishing the day. 

The bike support vehicle came by and he said, there are two options.  Switch bikes…or…remove the rear derailleur completely, adjust the chain length, and turn his bike into a single speed.  Basically that means rather than having 20 different gear options to choose from, he would have one only.  The downside was, the toughest part of the bike course was to about the begin.  Richter Pass, the first mountain pass was only 3km away.

Now, that he had an ‘option’, he was excited to take on that challenge.  So, off I went and the bike mechanic got him set up.  I think the mechanic was as excited about Mark giving this a shot, as Mark was about continuing the race.

What I didn’t mention is that while Mark was waiting for some kind of bike support, before I arrived on the scene, he saw another cyclist standing at the side of the road and found out that this guy had the wrong tubular tire for his bike and couldn’t repair the flat tire that he had.  Since Mark thought his day was over anyway, he just gave the guy his own spare tire. 

I only tell you this, because once the mechanic finally got Mark back on the road, it was only a few kilometers later that Mark got a flat tire.  The problem?  He no longer had a spare tire since he had given his away.  As it turns out, the same bike mechanic came by again and said…’now what?’  They just chuckled and put an old spare wheel on his bike and he was on his way again.

With only one gear, the up-hills were a bit of a grind and the descents meant that he would spin out and would have to rely on coasting - not great to keep the legs fresh, nor to offer up a fast bike time…but he was feeling good and still passing a lot of people.

After getting through the remaining 120km of the bike course, he took whatever time he needed in transition and was off on the run. 

He wouldn’t have known that I pulled out of the race at 150km of the bike course and I was actually happy he wouldn’t be worried about me and my race day.  The smoke from the forest fires in the north had settled into the valley and my breathing had become worse.  Pulling out was the right decision.  Of course, I am disappointed.  I had put in a lot of hours of training and working towards one day, but I definitely didn’t want to make things worse.

As soon as I got back to the motel, I quickly showered and started checking the time splits to see how he was doing on the run.  I was thrilled to see the first half of the run was great.  I was so pumped and excited and hung out with some friends as we cheered on the many finishers. 

The back half of the run was a little tougher for Mark as the discomfort in the hip from the crash made running difficult.  Jonathan was out on another part of the run course and called me when he 3.5 miles out.  I couldn’t wait!  Seeing him come down the home stretch with the biggest smile…well, my eyes welled up quickly.  I got a quick hug from him at the side of the road and he was off into the finish line chute.  With that smile, you would have thought he had won the race…and he did!

Overcoming adversity and unexpected challenges can make even the toughest races, one of the best races ever.

So, how did we celebrate the achievement the day after?  Lunch on the patio of a nice winery (See Ya Later – Hawthorne)…the second place overall female finisher in the race was having lunch there with her family visiting from Australia.  It has beautiful views, although still a little hazy today.

and then…a stop at Tickleberry’s

for some of their famous ice cream cones!!

A perfect way to end our stay in Penticton!  Can’t wait to come back!